Your house uses a complex group of systems, silently operating to enable the comforts of modern life. We take certain things for granted like when we flip a switch, and the lights turn on or when clean water comes out of a faucet to wash our hands with. When we flush a toilet, the waste magically disappears, and we’ll never see it again. All these things require the use of a service line.

What is a Service Line?

A service line is the connection between your home and the outside world for a particular service. Common examples include the pipe that brings fresh water into your home from the water main, the pipe that brings wastewater from your home to the sewer main, and the electrical and communications lines that bring electricity and internet access to your home from the main line at the street.

Are Service Lines covered by my Homeowners Insurance?

Typically, Homeowners Insurance only includes coverage for service lines located within your home. For example, if a pipe bursts inside your home, the resulting water damage would most likely be covered by your Homeowners Insurance.

There is an optional coverage required to cover damage to service lines that are outside your home. For example, if tree roots cause damage to your sewer line, you would need the optional Service Lines coverage for your Homeowners Insurance to help pay for the cost needed to excavate, replace the damage portion of the sewer line and restore any landscaping needed.

Service Lines Coverage

It’s a good idea to add Service Lines Coverage to your Homeowners Insurance, especially if you have an older home with older buried service lines. It usually costs thousands of dollars to excavate and repair buried service lines and the Service Lines Coverage can help you cover the cost.

Some examples of service lines that could be covered by Service Lines Coverage include:

  • Communications, including cable transmission, data transmission, internet access and telecommunications
  • Compressed air
  • Drainage
  • Electrical power
  • Heating, including geothermal, natural gas, propane, steam
  • Waste disposal
  • Water

For more information about Service Lines Coverage, please call our office at 518-278-2999 or visit our Contact Us page to send us a message.

John Lofrumento, CFP®, FSCP®, RICP®
President, The Lofrumento Agency
Clifton Park, NY / Ballston Lake, NY