Why Get a Home Warranty for a Sewer Line?

Homeowners understand that maintaining their home costs money and a significant amount of time and effort. They expect appliances and systems to wear out, break down, and stop working properly. When some items break down, repair and replacement costs can set a budget back considerably. 

Take your sewer line, for instance. This critical element should work well for many years, but it can eventually leak or back up. Fixing a sewer line or replacing it can be expensive. So, what do you do if you don’t have the cash to take care of these needs? This is where a home warranty plan for sewer lines comes in handy.

Homeowner’s Insurance and What It Covers

Purchasing a homeowner’s insurance policy is not only essential for your financial security and protecting your home and assets, but it’s also required if you need to get a mortgage. Your policy covers your home and property for damage and loss due to sudden catastrophes and disasters such as a fire, severe wind or hail, falling objects, and vandalism and theft. Unfortunately, a standard plan will not usually cover issues with your home’s sewer line. Fixing this system will fall upon your shoulders.

Understanding a Home Warranty Plan

As opposed to a homeowner’s insurance plan, a home warranty is optional. A warranty will last one year and covers home appliances and systems that suffer normal wear and tear. This is an agreement between you as the homeowner and a service company. You purchase the plan, and a servicer will fix or replace items so you don’t have to pay the costs. The plan will cover repair and replacement costs when an item unexpectedly breaks. 

A warranty will take care of household items such as kitchen appliances, your furnace and air conditioner, the water heater, and even a swimming pool. It will also cover sprinkler systems, the electrical system, and the plumbing system. A warranty’s cost will vary from plan to plan, though most are around $500. You can pay the fee all annually or per month. The plan does require that you pay a service fee when calling a technician over to assess an issue.

Fixing a Sewer Line

Repairing sewer line problems can put a significant financial burden on homeowners. The types of issues can range from sewer backups and leaks to broken, collapsed, or poorly aligned pipes. Sewer line pipes should last up to 100 years or more. If yours are older, you may soon encounter some troubling issues. Also, tree root growth can damage a line. Typically, you would pay around $2,500 to make repairs. The costs could increase to close to $5,000 depending on the severity of the issue. Even lower-end repair costs will be around $1,000.

Replacing a Sewer Line

If your sewer line is so badly damaged that repairs will not be enough to correct the problem, you may have to replace it and start over. These costs can skyrocket quickly. You could be out thousands—the price could even rise to more than $10,000 to replace the line. Bear in mind that you will pay for the materials as well as the hourly labor rate. The total costs of replacing the sewer line will also depend on the type of material you are using. PVC pipe is common because it is durable but much more affordable than other choices, such as cast iron.

Making a Comparison

Before you decide whether a home warranty on a sewer line is essential, think about how much you would pay out of pocket for sewer line repairs and replacements versus the cost of a warranty. Buying a warranty would get you your money’s worth for even the smallest sewer line repair. Spending $500 on a plan and $100 for a service call will pale in comparison to what you would pay to overhaul the sewer line.

Other Considerations

If you have a new home, it may not be worth it to purchase a warranty on the sewer line. This part of your home should last for decades to come. Plus, if you are handy and have experience handling these types of issues, you may not mind doing the repairs yourself.

But in other cases, like for an older home, it’s a good idea to purchase a home warranty plan for your sewer line. A warranty can give you peace of mind and financial security as it can possibly save you thousands of dollars.