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May 28, 2014 (BALTIMORE, MD) — The Baltimore City Board of Estimates today approved a plan that offers private insurance to Baltimore City homeowners for their water and sewer service lines. The insurance is being offered on a strictly voluntary basis, meaning customers are not required to sign up, and the City is not paying anything to the vendor for the service.
Baltimore becomes the first jurisdiction in Maryland to work with a vendor to offer such a program.
The Board approved a two-year contract, with three one-year renewal options, with HomeServe USA, a national company that has been providing this service for more than 20 years. HomeServe USA has nearly 2.3 million active policies and is in good standing with the Better Business Bureau.
HomeServe USA offered the lowest single premium cost to customers and other quality services that will benefit City homeowners. In addition, HomeServe USA will contribute funds on an annual basis to assist qualifying low income and senior homeowners with repairs to their water and sewer service lines.
Baltimore officials decided to move forward with the insurance program because of pervasive problems of water line breaks and sewer collapses caused by old infrastructure. Most pipes in the City are more than 50 years old, and many are 80 years or older. This is also true of service lines for residential properties. While the Baltimore City Department of Public Works (DPW) has an aggressive plan to replace 40 miles of water mains annually, it cannot replace service lines on residential property.
Residential property owners can find themselves having to pay a plumber thousands of dollars for a water or sewer service line repairs or replacement. This insurance – often not available through standard homeowners’ policies – can protect homeowners in the event of a service line failure.
HomeServe USA will charge Baltimore customers $3.99 per month for water line insurance, $5.49 per month for sewer line insurance, or at a discount of $8.49 per month for both.
Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake said the City is not paying for any of the company’s marketing costs. Billing and sign up will be handled directly by the company, the Mayor added, and the cost of the service will not appear on City’s water bills.
She said the City’s Legal, Risk Management and Finance departments worked with DPW to develop the residential service line insurance program.
HomeServe USA is based in Norwalk, Conn., and hires local plumbers to respond to service calls. The service is expected to be available to City homeowners this Fall.
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