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Pro tip: found out my homeowners insurance doesn't cover sewer backups the hard way after a $12,000 repair | Alberta Homeowners - Free To Speak

jamie804•1mo ago

Pro tip: found out my homeowners insurance doesn't cover sewer backups the hard way after a $12,000 repair

I was just reading through my policy details from Wawanesa this morning and realized backup coverage was an optional add-on I skipped three years ago when I bought the place in Lethbridge, has anyone else been blindsided by a gap like this?

4 comments

4 Comments

river9521mo ago

...so you just skimmed the summary page and figured you were covered for the basics, right? I did the exact same thing with my policy in Edmonton until a neighbor's tree root snaked into my line. What makes me wonder though, did your adjuster actually walk you through all the optional coverages when you signed up, or was it just a "here's the standard package" handoff? I feel like they don't really push the backup and overland water stuff hard enough in the prairies since it's not a flood zone. I mean, twelve grand is a brutal lesson, but now you've got me second-guessing what else I might be missing in the fine print.

sagecooper1mo ago

Sat down with my agent face to face and made them go through every single option line by line before I signed anything. Turned out water backup was buried three pages deep in a brochure they almost skipped over. That conversation saved me from exactly this kind of headache, so I'd say it's worth the awkwardness to push for a full walkthrough.

ben_lewis1mo ago

Man, that's a REAL tough pill to swallow. But @river952 you're spot on about the adjuster thing - when I signed up my guy just handed me the base policy and said "this covers the big stuff." Did yours ever mention that sewer backup is basically a separate rider you have to ask for by name, or did you just find out the same way I did after the damage was done?

nguyen.morgan1mo ago

Wait, has anyone actually read through their entire insurance policy word for word? I know I definitely haven't. It's like signing up for a gym membership and finding out later there's a separate fee for the locker room. @ben_lewis that whole "this covers the big stuff" line is so common it should be illegal. Insurance companies make it all sound simple at sign-up but then the fine print is basically a different language. I swear half the stuff we think is covered isn't even in the base policy anymore, it's all tacked on as riders and endorsements you have to specifically ask for. Feels like you're paying for a safety net with holes in it unless you catch every detail upfront.