Service Line Coverage: Why the Pipes Under Your Yard Are Your Problem

If you live in Montgomery County, there's a good chance you've gotten a letter that looks like it came from your gas company, offering a monthly plan to protect "your gas line." Plenty of homeowners sign up, assume their underground pipes are now handled, and never think about it again.

Those plans cover one thing. The pipes under your yard are several things. And most homeowners don't realize who is actually responsible for them: you are, not the county and not the utility.

What You Own Underground

Every house is connected to the outside world by a set of buried lines. The utility owns the main under the street. The part that runs across your yard to your house is generally yours.

• Water service line. In most of Montgomery County the water utility is WSSC Water. WSSC maintains the service pipe from its main to your property line; the pipe from the property line to your house, and everything inside, is the homeowner's responsibility. If WSSC finds an underground leak on your side, it confirms that in writing and expects the repair to be made within 30 days.
• Sewer lateral. WSSC is just as clear on sewer: maintaining the sewer service from the property line to the building is the property owner's responsibility. Tree roots, a collapsed clay pipe, or a separated joint under your lawn is your bill.
• Gas piping. The utility's responsibility generally ends at the meter. Customer-owned gas piping from the meter to your appliances, including any buried run to a detached garage, a grill or a pool heater, belongs to you.
• Underground electrical, cable and internet lines running to your house or to outbuildings, landscape lighting and similar equipment.
• Well and septic lines for homes in Damascus, Olney, Potomac and other parts of upcounty that aren't on public water and sewer.

If you're served by a different utility (some Rockville addresses are on City of Rockville water), the dividing line can differ, so it's worth checking with your provider. But the pattern is the same almost everywhere: the pipe on your land is yours.

Why Your Homeowners Policy Usually Doesn't Pay

A standard homeowners policy covers sudden, accidental damage. Underground line failures are usually the opposite: a pipe that corroded for forty years, a clay sewer lateral that roots slowly cracked, a line that shifted as the soil froze and thawed. Wear and tear, deterioration, rust and root intrusion are classic exclusions. So is the cost of digging up the yard, driveway or sidewalk to reach the problem, which is often the most expensive part of the repair.

That leaves a homeowner holding the bill for the excavation, the pipe, the permit and the inspection (in WSSC territory, underground sewer repairs must be done by a WSSC-registered master plumber under a permit), plus restoring the landscaping afterward.

What Those Utility Mailers Actually Cover

The plans advertised to Washington Gas customers are offered by HomeServe, an independent company. Washington Gas’s own site is clear that HomeServe is separate from the utility and that buying a plan doesn't affect your gas service. The plans are service contracts, not insurance, and each one covers a single system:

• A gas line plan covers the customer-owned gas piping from the meter to your appliances, up to its benefit limit. It doesn’t cover your water line or sewer lateral; those are separate plans.
• Water service lines, electrical and other systems are sold as separate plans, each with its own monthly fee, limit, waiting period and exclusions.

Nothing is wrong with a service plan if it fits what you need. But if you signed up for the gas line plan believing your underground pipes were covered, you may have a gap worth checking: the water service line and the sewer lateral. Plan terms change, so check your plan documents for current coverage.

Service Line Coverage on Your Homeowners Policy

Service line coverage is an endorsement added to a homeowners policy. It's designed for exactly the failures a standard policy excludes. Erie Insurance, one of the carriers we represent, includes service line coverage in its Plus and Select bundles for ErieSecure Home policies:

• It covers damage to underground piping and wiring, including water and sewer pipes, natural gas and propane pipes, electrical wiring, and cable and internet lines.
• It responds to causes a standard policy excludes, including wear and tear, rust, freezing, root invasion and animal damage.
• Limits are up to $10,000 with the Plus bundle and up to $25,000 with the Select bundle.

Because it sits on your homeowners policy, one endorsement can address several lines at once, rather than one plan per pipe. As with any coverage, the policy language, deductible and limits control, so we walk through them with you before you decide.

Who Should Look at This First

• Owners of older homes in Silver Spring, Takoma Park, Kensington and Rockville, where original clay or cast-iron sewer laterals and older water lines are common. See our guide to insuring an older home.
• Homes with large, mature trees between the house and the street. Roots find sewer joints.
• Properties with long runs to the street, detached garages, pool equipment or outbuildings.
• Upcounty homes on well and septic.
• Anyone with a finished basement. A failing sewer lateral often shows up as a backup first, which is a separate coverage covered in our post on water backup and sump pump coverage.

How Terrapin Can Help

Bring us your homeowners declarations page and any utility service plans you're paying for. We'll show you what's actually covered underground, where the gaps are, and what adding service line coverage would look like, with Erie and the other carriers we represent. Homeowners in Silver Spring, Rockville, Olney and across Montgomery County can reach us at our Piccard Drive office in Rockville.