An Edmonton homeowner is having difficulty securing coverage for $5,800 in basement repair costs due to the insurance complications surrounding a utility company’s sewer line.
On April 08, 2019, a pipe collapsed next to Joe Hak’s home in north Edmonton, flooding his basement with sewage. Inspectors with Epcor – the utilities company managing the line – later informed Hak and his wife that they were lucky that the pipe in question was located in front of the side of his home – which meant it did not land within his property.
“They said ‘Well, it’s outside of your property because it’s a city pipe. And if it were inside your property line, it would cost you a lot, but this is … the fault of the pipelines that are not even yours,’” Hak told CBC News in an interview.
An emergency clean-up service was employed in the basement, and then Hak made a claim against Epcor for the damages. However, he was informed that the $5,800 bill to repair his basement would have to come out of his own pocket, even though the pipe was on public property.
“We got very, very frustrated,” Hak exclaimed. “And we couldn’t do anything about it.”
Epcor confirmed that a sewage line broke on public property just outside Hak’s residence. But under Edmonton’s drainage bylaw, the utility said that the customer is still responsible for any damage to their private property.
“The reason for that is to ensure property owners have enough insurance in place,” explained Epcor spokesperson Kelly Struski.
Struski added that by having damage to private property covered under personal property insurance taxpayers are saved from having to absorb the costs.
Hak has since met with city councillor Jon Dziadyk to escalate his concerns.
“If it’s deemed not the homeowner’s fault, and the public utility fails, I think it should be the case that the homeowner is not on the hook for that bill to clean it up,” Dziadyk said in a statement.
The councillor has plans to bring a motion before city council on August 27, CBC News reported. The motion will direct city staff to prepare a report that looks into claims for damage to private property involving failed Epcor-owned drainage infrastructure. The motion asks city staff to work with Epcor to count the number of claims paid and denied, as well as the total amount paid out.
“We expect that services will be provided without failure and when there is a failure, you’d expect reasonable recourse,” Dziadyk remarked.
