Water & Sewer Line Coverage – What You Should Know About the City of Ottawa Offer?
Residents of Ottawa are receiving notices from the city about their new partnership with a company offering an ‘affordable repair plan’ for homeowner’s water and sewer service lines. Our brokers are receiving many inquiries from customers asking for help understanding how their home insurance might provide the coverage. Let’s see if we can help shed some light for you.
What is this about?
As the infrastructure within the city of Ottawa ages, so do the lines and pipes that run to your home. The city is rightfully notifying residents of the potential exposure that would occur from a break or leak. The City of Ottawa has partnered with a company, called Service Lines Warranties of Canada (SLWC), a US based company and, from what we understand, they are not an insurance company. Notices started being delivered to homeowners in February. This is a voluntary program that offers protection for damage to water/sewer/septic lines within the boundaries that homeowners are responsible for on their property.
Here is an image from the city site that outlines what homeowners are responsible for:
Is this covered under my home insurance policy?
Most, but not all, insurance companies offer the coverage as part of a homeowner policy but don’t automatically assume you have appropriate coverage in your insurance policy. Some companies may include the coverage automatically, others require that you purchase a separate endorsement, some coverage is broad, some is limited and all have exclusions of some kind.
To learn more about the city offer, they’ve set up an information page on the city of Ottawa website.
Bottom line? Coverage may be available through your insurance and often at a lower cost than the city plan, or it may already be included on your home insurance policy. Your best option to know, is to speak with your Rhodes & Williams Insurance broker to help understand more – we’d love to hear from you.
Have questions or comments about this piece? Contact us to let us know. At Rhodes & Williams, we aim to support your everyday comforts by providing the products and coverage to keep you and your family safe. Give us a call today to discuss any of your insurance needs at 888-391-8379.
