Our Hemet sump pump failed during a storm and the basement flooded. Is that covered?

Only if your policy carries a water backup or sump overflow endorsement, which is an optional add-on on most California homeowners policies rather than a standard feature. Without it, water that backs up or overflows from a sump is commonly excluded even though the storm itself was sudden. With it, coverage applies up to the endorsement limit, which is often far lower than the main dwelling limit. Either way the work is the same and time sensitive: extraction and drying priced in this city's own published data at $1,730 to $3,850 for a typical flooded basement dryout. Document the pump's state and any outage, and make the endorsement question the first call, not the last.