Question For Well And Septic Users/owners
Lounge By Cake_Geek Updated 4 May 2007 , 3:00pm by sweetcakes
I just think this is a bit strange and wanted to see if anyone else found a good solution.
DH and I bought a house last year that has well and septic. The seller gave us a home warranty that covered all the appliances including the well pump, filtration system and septic system. The plan is now up for renewal which would be aprx $500 for the next year.
I just called my home owners insurance to find out if they had any riders or extra coverage I could purchase that would cover those same things if anything were to happen. I am in particular concerned about the well pump, filtration and septic. They told me no there was nothing else I could purchase and the items would only be covered for damage or replacement if one of the perils already listed in my policy (lightening, hail, etc) were to the cause of the damage. I explained that the well pump is about 400 ft in the ground and is more likely to be subject to sucking up debris and getting clogged then burning up than it is being struck by lightening. 
She was still unable to come up with anything else. I find it odd that they don't offer any additional coverage for something I can not do any maintenance to to keep it in tip top working order.
So.... has anyone found anything better than a general home warranty or an insurance company who does offer coverage of these items??
Thanks,
Dia
I didn't know you could get insurance for those things.
I don't think that pumps and stuff burn up very quickly, I know that my inlaws have had one for about 25 years and are still going on it so I don't know if it's worth it to cover it with insurance.
As for septic systems there isn't much that goes wrong with them, again my inlaws have had the same system for years and my parents have one that's been in for 35 years or more and all they've had to do is get it pumped.
I know that my MIL would have talked about it if she had it and encouraged us to get it too.
Your area might be different but that's what I know about here.
I don't have one either, but my in-laws went out after it was 30 years old. They had it replaced and I know it wasn't that expensive. But, I know people who have never replaced theirs that are 50 years plus. As for your appliances, if you have high end appliances I can see having this policy, but for average appliances I don't know if $500 a year is worth it. You can replace most appliance for $400 to $600. Except for a refrigerator.
Our home had the original (24 year old) well pump when we bought it 13 years ago. We only replaced it two years ago because it was inside the house and a bit noisy - the new pump is outside and quiet as a mouse.
The septic field is the same age, and we've never had a problem; it only requires occasional pumping.
HTH
ditto to what JanH said. They recommend that your have your septic field pumped every 5 yrs so to avoid a backup.
I think the reason they don't have insuarance for it is because it is considered a normal maint. appliance (for lack of a better word) kinda like your water heater and furnance.
If you keep up the maintenance on it, you should be fine. Who has the service contract on your well? (We used Kinetico and loved them) Also, if you have kids, make sure you've got them on flouride. For the septic, have it serviced regularly. Do you have a garbage disposal (some septics will accomodate them, others won't, our didn't), if so, it will probably need to be serviced more often. Make sure you don't put "products" into your septic. Also, use the cheaper toilet paper. Charmin will clog a septic more quickly than some of the others because it doesn't decompose as quickly.
Well and septic aren't really insurance type issues, so just keep up the maintenance. Depending on where you live, it's also a good idea to have your well tested by your local health department on a regular basis. I used to live in a hurricane zone and improperly sealed wells could pose a problem.
I have a septic tank and unfortunately a lot can go wrong with it. We have had nothing but trouble with it for the last 3 years. Our septic guy told us that normal maintenance is pumping it out every 3-5 years, but we have had to have ours done at least every year. Also our lateral field was dying so we had pooling in our yard. We had to spend $500 to get our yard airrated (sp?)so the runoff wouldn't pool in the yard. It was either that or replace the whole septic system. Our system is about 40 years old and we were told on average they last 20-30 years. Unfortuanatley we are pooling again because of all the rain so I think we are going to have to replace our whole system. We were informed also that it is not up to code for our family size. It's too small. It's been one headache after another. Unfortunately insurance companies don't cover stuff like this. I just wish we were on city sewer. I don't want to have to shell out a bunch of money to replace our septic tank.
We just bought this house last year and it is 20 years old. THe well and septic were both inspected and passed fine. We had the septic pumped as part of the inspection and plan to do it about every 2 years as it is only DH and I living there.
We don't have a garbage disposal and are pretty safe with what we put into the drain for cleaning products or anything else. We haven't had any signs of problems, but I'm just trying to make sure that if we hav eproblems, we have some help.
So much about a septic depends on the land and whether it will continue to perk, how the land handles heavy rain, etc. There's also an additive you can flush and put into your toilet that will help keep the little goo-eaters down there happy. The absolute key is maintenance. With the well, the biggest problems our community faces was cracked seals and flooding from hurricanes causing the wells to become contaminated. But, if it's properly checked, that shouldn't be a problem. A friend has had their well run dry and had to have a deeper one dropped. There's nothing you can do about that one. My well and septic used to keep me quite stressed, but that was because I didn't grow up with one. Once you get used to it, you will love the idea of no sewer or water bills.
When I got married, I didn't think I could get used to being on a well, but it's not bad at all. We haven't really had any problems with ours. My DH did some maintenance on the pump once and replaced the bladder under the house. Most recently, he fixed a leak in a pipe coming from the well, but nothing major. You may want to have your water tested though. When I was inspected for my business, they tested the water and determined that I had to treat it once in a while. Basically pour some bleach in the well and flush it through the system really good.
We've had no issues with the septic either, just have it pumped every few years. Funny story though, the first time we had it pumped, DH had an old high school friend do it for us so he was standing out there when the septic was opened to be pumped. He found out really quick why I had been telling him not to ever flush condoms...... He was so embarrassed, and of course all I could say was "told ya so!" LOL Glad I wasn't home that day.
Sorry, insurance doesn't cover those. We have replaced our well pump twice in the past 17 years. A year and a half ago we had a failed septic. It cost $18,000! A tough pill to swallow! But, you can't do anything about it! It's not like you can say, "That's too expensive, I'll skip it."
american home shield covers well pumps, pool pumps, spas, etc along with alot of other house appliances.
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