Judson McCranie wrote:
My parents have a house that was built in the late 1940s. The sewer
pipe is the old ceramic type and it runs under the house. Part of it
has collapsed and the plumber says he knows where. To get to it, he
would have to go through the floor and jackhammer through the concrete
slab. He thinks that their homeowner's insurance will cover it (after
the deductable).

Does the insurance cover things like this?

If the plumber said he thinks your parents' homeowners insurance might cover
the work, I assume that he has some reason to believe that -- such as prior
jobs that he did for others in the area that apparently were at least
partially covered by insurance. So, of course, check with your parents'
insurance agent to see what their policy says and what it does and does not
cover.

The video camera idea that was suggested by others would make sense to me.
Where is the property located? --which State? In my area (New Jersey and
nearby Pennsylvania) a video of a sewer line costs $295 or less. That would
definitely be worth it before chopping up concrete, in my opinion.

And, where does the sewer line run? Is it below the concrete in an open
basement, or is it below a cement slab that the first floor rooms of the
house are on? If it is an open basement, is there an exposed sewer stack
that comes down along the wall of the basement? Sometimes, you can tie into
the sewer stack in the basement above the floor and then run a new PVC sewer
line along the wall above the concrete floor, then through the exterior
wall, and then on the outside dig down and tie it into the exterior line
and/or the street sewer line. If all of the circumstances allow for this
idea, you could avoid digging up the concrete. But, then again, if it is an
open basement and the sewer line runs under the concrete basement floor,
opening up the basement floor may be easy. Especially in older homes,
sometimes the basement floor is just an easy-to-break 2-inch +/- slab that
breaks up very easily.

More info and/or a few photos may help in terms of getting ideas of what
your parents' options may be.

Let us know what you figure out on this one.

Good luck.