What Is Service Line Coverage, and Do You Need It?

You wake up to find no running water in your house. Pressure from a tree root has collapsed the line between your home and the city’s water main — and because the broken pipe is on your property, you’re on the hook for repairs.

If you want to protect your finances from this type of scenario, consider adding service line coverage to your homeowners insurance policy.

Service line coverage is an optional type of insurance that can pay for repairs to underground utility lines on your property. Depending on your insurer, service line coverage may pay for damage due to:

• Root invasion from trees and plants.

• Mechanical or electrical failure.

• Blockage, bursting or collapse.

• Rodents or other animals.

Service line coverage often comes with a deductible — the amount of a claim you’ll have to pay. Here’s an example of how it might work:

Say a heavy truck parks on your lawn to unload supplies for a new deck, accidentally crushing an underground sewer line. Replacing it will cost $3,000. After subtracting your $500 deductible, your insurance company would pay the remaining $2,500.

Service line coverage can pay to repair damage to the following types of underground utility lines on your property:

Your coverage could pay for services like excavation, replacing damaged piping and restoring landscaping that was disturbed during repairs. If your home is uninhabitable, your policy could also cover the cost of staying in a hotel for a few days.

Some insurance companies may offer a little extra coverage to replace your old service line with more efficient or eco-friendly technology.

Service line coverage generally won’t pay to repair utility lines located above ground. And because the coverage is designed for utility lines that link your home to a municipal or commercial service, it may not cover damage to water wells, septic systems or liquid fuel tanks.

The cost of service line coverage depends on where you live and how much coverage you want. A typical range is $20 to $50 per year, but we saw one company advertising rates as low as $9 per year for newer homes.

Service line coverage isn’t mandatory, so it’s your choice whether you add it to your policy. Keep in mind that utility line repairs could cost thousands of dollars, depending on the severity of the problem. For example, replacing a sewer line costs about $3,200 on average, according to Angi, a home services company.

You might want to consider buying service line coverage if:

• You live in an older home with aging utility lines.

• Your property has large trees with roots that could encroach on underground pipes.

• Paying a little more for extra coverage gives you peace of mind.

Service line coverage may be less useful to you if:

• You live in a rural area without connections to many municipal utilities.

• You’d feel comfortable covering an unexpected expense if something happened to one of your utility lines.

You may be able to buy service line insurance through your utility company or the city where you live. Home warranty companies such as Service Line Warranties of America and HomeServe may also offer coverage in your area for service lines.

Look carefully at the terms and cost of each plan before you buy one. You may find that they’re more expensive than the coverage your homeowners insurer can offer for potentially less coverage.

For example, the Service Line Protection Program from the New York City Department of Environmental Protection costs nearly $85 per year for water line coverage and $143 per year for sewer line coverage. That’s a total of $228 for two utility lines. Your home insurer might offer coverage for other service lines, too (such as electric and cable lines) for a lower price.

Many home insurers offer service line coverage as an add-on, including: