Year after year, dozens of Kelly Insurance customers learn the importance of having water backup of sewers, sump pump, and drains coverage added to their policy.  Some learn the hard way that it is a good idea to 'buy back' this water protection from their company.  After all it is an optional coverage that is usually available to Kelly Insurance customers on their homeowners insurance.  To find out more, we highly recommend that you have a conversation with your agent.

But even when a water backup claim is covered, the mess, extreme inconvenience, and inevitable out of pocket expenses can hopefully be avoided.  By exercises a few precautionary tasks, you can dramatically reduce your exposure to this tragic occurence:

• Have a check valve installed.  A check valve is a simple mechanical device that allows water to flow one way (down your drain for instance) but not the other way (like back into your basement).  These are incredibly affordable and well worth the money.  Ask your plumber if a check valve is a good idea for your home.
• Sump pumps can assist in removing water from your foundation.  A sump is a 'hole' in your basement floor where unwanted water collects.  It is often tied into the drains so that water can just drain right out to the sewer or septic.  Sometimes there is so much water that the drains can't handle the volume.  In this case, you'll want to have a sump pump installed (sometimes you might even need more than one!).  But what happens if your power goes out?  Or what if the pump picks up a rock and ruins the pump?  Your basement could flood because of this failure and even with the backup coverage included, your claim might still be denied (after all, power failure isn't exactly a failure of the sump pump). 
  • Your best defense -- get a backup power supply like a marine battery backup (available at many hardware stores).  They even have a type of sump pump that works on the pressure from your city water supply.  These are very reliable as well.
  • Buy a water intrusion alarm.  They are quite easy to find as well and only cost about $10 to $20.  This is a great way to learn early about water entering your lowest level.
  • If the alarm goes off, you need a way to get rid of the water!  Have a pump handy that you can use to get rid of that water!  There are dozens of creative tools that you can employ to help.  But trust us, you'll save a lot of headache and a lot of money (again, even with the proper coverage) if you can keep that water from doing any damage.
• Make sure your drains are working properly.  Let's all be honest, plumbers are sometimes a little expensive.  But if you can find a deal on drain inspections and/or cleaning, it's got to be worth doing it every couple of years. 
• Keep everything out of harm's way.  With so many families choosing to finish their basements nowadays, this is often harder than it sounds.  But take a moment and imagine 3 - 6" of water on your basement floor.  Is it possible to get most of your stuff up off the floor?  Shelves could work; so could Rubbermaid boxes (at least for the very bottom level).  In an ideal world, you could use tile instead of carpet and hopefully you wouldn't need furniture in a rec room.

These simple tips could save you thousands on a water backup occurence.  But when all of this fails, add the water backup endorsement to your homeowners policy!  It is very affordable and it is easily one of the most used endorsements that we have available.  That means customers need it -- often!  So think about it and add it on.

But please remember, just adding the coverage for something doesn't mean you can forget about it.  You still want to take measures to avoid a water backup loss (or any loss for that matter).  After all, you'll have a deductible, some lengthy meetings with claims adjustor, possibly nasty smells coming from your basement, and your homeowners rates will probably go up because of the claim.  Take precautions and protect yourself -- simple as that.

Contact your Kelly Insurance agent today for more information...