Home Insurance Endorsements Explained: Water Backup, Ordinance or Law, and Scheduled Property

A plain-English guide to three common endorsements—what they cover, when you need them, and how they can affect your premium.

Why endorsements exist

Your base homeowners policy is a starting point. Endorsements (also called riders) let you add or broaden coverage for situations the base form limits or excludes.

Rather than buying a completely different policy, you can surgically add protection where it matters for your home and lifestyle.

Water backup (sump/sewer)

Water backup covers damage if a drain or sewer backs up into your home or a sump pump fails. Standard policies often exclude this.

Who needs it: homes with basements, older plumbing, or areas with heavy rain. Typical limits: $5k–$25k. It won’t cover outside flooding from rivers/storm surge—separate flood insurance handles that.

Cost impact: modest monthly increase; higher limits cost more. Mitigation like backwater valves and maintained pumps can help.

Ordinance or Law

If a covered loss requires you to rebuild portions of the home to meet current codes, this endorsement pays the extra cost to upgrade. Base policies may only pay to restore ‘like kind and quality’.

Who needs it: older homes or areas with frequent code updates. Limits are often a percentage of dwelling coverage (e.g., 10%, 25%, 50%).

Cost impact: varies by home age and local code environment.

Scheduled personal property

High‑value items (jewelry, art, collectibles) can exceed base policy limits or be subject to narrower named‑peril coverage. Scheduling lists the item, sets a value, and broadens covered causes of loss.

Who needs it: anyone with items valued above sublimits (often $1k–$5k per item on base policy). Keep appraisals/receipts.

Cost impact: proportional to item value and risk; can be very affordable for essential pieces.

How to choose endorsements

Make a quick inventory: basement? older roof or wiring? valuable items? Then ask your agent which endorsements map to those risks.

Balance limits and deductible with your budget. It’s okay to start with modest limits and increase later after a policy review.

Bottom line

Endorsements personalize your policy so a claim doesn’t surprise you. Start with water backup, evaluate Ordinance or Law if your home is older, and schedule valuables you can’t easily replace.