The tulips are blooming, the buds are on the trees, and the first soothing hums of distant neighborhood lawnmowers can be heard if you tilt your ear just so. Yes, Spring is here: that time of year when a young insurance agent’s fancy turns to wet basements and water backup claims. With torrential rainfalls combining with melting snow and the occasional thunderstorm-induced power outage, this is the most challenging season for those of us with sump pumps. And if that pump should fail or the power should go out you want to be sure you have the right insurance in place.

Lest you be thinking this is a sales pitch, let me just say the BEST insurance is not actually something you can buy from your agent, but something you can buy from your plumber or HVAC contractor: a backup sump pump. While every homeowner with a basement should ask for ample insurance coverage for water backup (something homeowners policies DO NOT provide automatically) the best defense is a good offense and the best way to be on the offense against water in your basement is to have a non-electric backup system in place should your pump fail. There are many options and every homeowners’ situation will dictate slightly different solutions but whether you have a battery operated backup or a water powered backup, I would encourage you to have something standing between you and the in-ground, in-basement pool that you will have (like it or not) should that trusty pump go out. In addition to a backup pump, a water sensing alarm is a great (and affordable) idea as well and can be picked up for as little as $8 at your local home improvement store. If you want to go a step further, many security systems can monitor a sudden spike in water usage (from a plumbing leak) and/or the presence of water in your basement, and alert you to these occurences.

Got a pump? Got a backup sof some sort? Great. Now check out this link from our great company partner Central Insurance for an easy tutorial on how to service your system. The servicing is relatively easy and should be done at least once a year.

Now, and only now, that you have your basement water elimination defense fully set up do we beging to ask the question of whether you have the final safety net, which is water backup insurance. If the answer is “no” or “I don’t know,” then call us up at 419.229.5010 or visit us at www.sullivaninsuranceinc.com. Stay dry!