GREENSBORO, N.C. — When your child calls you at work, you often don’t know if it’s good news or bad news. When Deborah Robert’s daughter called earlier this year, it was the latter.
“My daughter called me and said, 'Mom there’s water coming up out of the ground',” Roberts said.
The water bubbled up in her yard just a few feet away from the house. The water was immediately shut off at the main line and Roberts rushed home to see how bad the problem was.
“My neighbors came out and said you know we saw the fire department testing the hydrant,” Roberts said.
The pressure from the testing of the hydrant appears to have cracked or ruptured the water line. Roberts called the city later that night.
“He (city employee) said that happens sometimes when testing fire hydrants. He said it was a water hammer,” Roberts said.
The City of Greensboro was quick to send someone out to investigate. Roberts was later told to call a plumber; the city determined the water line was on private property so they couldn’t make the repairs.
An adjuster did, however, speak with Roberts about the issue and sent her an email about the situation.
The email directs Roberts to forward the invoice to him once the line is repaired and that he will review it for reimbursement.
Roberts called a plumber who came and inspected the line.
“They dug down and said yes, it is galvanized pipe you will need to go ahead and have this replaced,” Roberts said.
The plumber made the necessary repairs and Roberts went ahead and paid the $3,200 for the new line to be installed. Roberts then sent the bill to the adjuster for reimbursement.
“The adjuster called me and said, now wait we talked about repairing, this is not repairing this is a replacement,” Roberts said.
At this point, Roberts knew the city was not willing to pay the $3,200 bill. While Roberts believes she did what the adjuster told her to do, the city maintains she was instructed to repair the line, not replace it. Roberts tells WFMY News 2 she was told to call a plumber to fix the leak, and that the plumber told her the only way to stop the line from leaking is to replace it.
“We did not discuss what that meant when he (adjuster) said repair it, I just thought it meant repair it, so it was working,” Roberts said.
The city reviewed the claim and sent Roberts an email stating it would pay a portion of the bill. A short time later, Roberts reached out to WFMY News 2 to see if we could help.
After talking with Roberts and the city, it quickly became clear they didn’t agree on what was said on the phone or sent in the email. Roberts feels she was told to resolve the issue and submit a claim.
Only the adjuster and Roberts know what was said on the phone. The email he sent asked her to forward the invoice once the line is repaired. That was the only email Roberts received from the adjuster before contacting a plumber.
We decided to call several plumbers and ask them what they would do about a leak in a galvanized pipe.
We spoke with six plumbers and all of them said they would recommend the line be replaced. Four of the plumbers said they wouldn’t even consider fixing the damaged line.
At this point, we had several questions we wanted the city to answer. A list of some of our questions and the response we received is as follows.
- How old was the pipe..? Galvanized lines have a lengthy service life and can be as old as the properties to which they are attached, and this structure was constructed in 1948. (See additional note below.)
- When was it last serviced..? See note below.
- What exactly did the fire department do to cause the rupture..? We are not sure what the exact cause was; the Fire Department was routinely servicing the fire hydrants in the area. May have been a factor. Could be just a leak in an old water line.
- Why did the city not ask Deborah for a couple of estimates before having the work done..? We advised her to get a plumber to repair the line and to give us a call if there were any problems. She did not call and instead sent in an invoice for the replacement of the entire run.
- Why was there not an approved amount before the work was done..? The homeowner approved the replacement and did not check with the City or myself before doing so despite being directed during our conversation to advise us and discuss if any issues were repairing the line.
- Why did the city not make it clear (in writing) about the work it was okay with Deborah having done..? (Please refer to the email we sent you, which is the notification, in writing, that she should repair the line.)
- Has the city instituted any changes to policy/guidelines so another homeowner won’t end up in the same situation..? See below.
- Will the city reimburse Deborah for the amount the contractor (she was told to hire) charged her..? The City has offered to pay the amount of a repair for the water line. The homeowner was not given the okay to replace the water line and was advised to have a plumber come out and complete a repair.
The city did pay a portion of the bill. Roberts was sent a check for a little more than $1,000. At this point, Roberts said she was satisfied with the settlement but still felt the adjuster was vague in what he wanted Roberts to do. As for changing its policy when it comes to an issue like this, so another homeowner doesn’t misinterpret what the city will cover, we were told no policy changes have been implemented.
If something like this should happen to you or something similar where the city may be partially responsible or offers to instruct you to hire someone and submit the bill, be sure to get something in writing as to what the city will and will not cover before hiring someone to do the work.