On 6/18/2013 5:45 AM, (PeteCresswell) wrote:
We've been getting these insurance offers from the local water company
to the effect that the service from the main to our house could fail at
any time and that we should pay a few bucks per month to avoid repair
costs.

My kneejerk is that this is a cash cow for the water company.

This neighborhood was built in the mid fifties. I've never heard of
anybody's service failing.

Is there an average lifetime for this stuff?... Or are there different
constructions/water compositions that make comparison impractical?

We just started getting these too. It's basically a scam, like AT&T's
inside wiring insurance. The water company gets a nice kickback from the
company providing the coverage.

Here's an article about it from the San Jose Murky News:
http://www.mercurynews.com/scott-herhold/ci_23379477/herhold-examine-that-water-pipe-insurance-pitch-carefully.

Several times I've seen problems with metal to PVC connection at the
meter and where the PVC connects into the house's copper. Even a barely
noticeable earthquake could cause this junction to fail. I would wager
that the company providing the coverage would claim that it was
improperly installed and hence not covered.