April Showers Bring... Sudbury Sewer Backup
The City of Greater Sudbury is populated by over 300 lakes and although it's beautiful in the summer and winter months, things can get messy in the Spring.
The return of Spring brings runoff - the melting snow, the steady rainfall... While you’re bailing yourself out, consider your insurance coverage. Water damage is the leading claim of all property claims; one of the nastiest results of flooding is sewer backup.
You’ll be relieved to learn that sewer backup is insurable, and it’s more important than ever to have sewer backup as part of your homeowner policy, largely because of the convergence of two patterns in recent years:
- More people are spending tens of thousands of dollars to renovate their basements into high-end living spaces;
- Weather is getting worse, and more unpredictable, in recent years. (Consider 2005 - the wettest year in Canada in 62 years, or those Ontario tornadoes in June 2010!)
But you don’t need to panic, we offer the following tips on preparing to meet any threat of water damage:
- Know exactly what you’re covered for when it comes to water damage; give one of our brokers a call. Sewer backup coverage is optional in most policies, and is relatively inexpensive.
- Inform your insurance broker right away when you experience water damage, and expect fast response from them. The longer water sits, the more damage it does to your property.
- If you go away, make sure someone checks in on your house regularly, even if there aren’t pets to feed or plants to water. Ruptured toilets and broken washing machine supply hoses are a common cause of water damage.
- Should the water levels rise around you, move any valuables - furniture and otherwise - out of the basement and lower levels of your home. During a flood, shut off the furnace, electricity and outside gas valves.
- Keep your insurance broker advised of any and all renovations you do to your home. While you’re at it, make sure you tell your broker about any changes to your home’s plumbing.
- We will help you learn more about the options available to avoid sewage backup, such as installing backflow valves and sump-pump drainage systems, and replacing old plumbing.
The city of Greater Sudbury’s Protective Plumbing Program gives priority this year to property owners with previous basement flooding. Other cities offer Residential Protective Plumbing subsidies to install sump pumps and some of the plumbing equipment mentioned above, to help out on flooding where insurance coverage falls short. Check with your insurance broker about if you can benefit from such a subsidy.
If you do experience sewer backup, be sure water remediation professionals repair the damage, which could include replacing drywall and other building materials. Getting it done right means less chance of expensive and health-harming mould later.
You won’t get this kind of advice when buying insurance online from a faceless corporation that doesn’t know Sudbury and the types of conditions we face here in Northern Ontario!
Have you been through the misfortune of sewer backup, or benefited from some advice or proactive measure to avoid the disaster? Leave your comments at the end here.