Service Line Coverage

Service line coverage is an endorsement on a homeowners policy that covers physical damage to the underground utility lines you own and are responsible for maintaining. This includes water mains running from the street to your house, sewer pipes, natural gas lines, electric service lines, and increasingly fiber and cable lines.

Why this matters: most standard homeowners policies exclude damage to these buried lines, including the trench-digging and yard restoration needed to repair them. A typical buried-water-line break can cost 3,000 to 8,000 dollars to dig, repair, and re-landscape. A sewer line collapse can run 10,000 to 25,000 dollars. Most homeowners assume these are covered until they file a claim and find out otherwise.

What service line coverage typically pays: the cost to excavate and access the line, the cost to repair or replace the damaged section, the cost to restore landscaping and hardscaping disturbed by the work, and sometimes the loss of use cost while the line is out of service.

What it does not cover: lines outside your property line (the city or utility company is responsible), damage caused by tree roots if the line was already failing (some carriers exclude this), and lines that fail due to normal wear over their useful life.

Cost: typically 25 to 50 dollars per year for 10,000 dollars of coverage. Most homeowners can carry up to 25,000 dollars in coverage. The premium is small relative to the average claim cost, making it one of the better-value endorsements on a homeowners policy. Particularly relevant in Georgia for older neighborhoods (Decatur, parts of Atlanta) with aging clay sewer pipes and tree root issues.