Exterior Water Service Line Coverage
$7.95/mo
$23.85/qtr
$95.40/yr
Sandra J. of Des Moines, Iowa, never expected to use the emergency home repair plan protecting her water service line.
"Honestly, I never expected to use it," she said. "I had it for years and years, but I thought, ‘you never know. The weather is so crazy anymore. It’s just a gamble what the weather is going to do.’"
Then Winter Storm Elliott blew in shortly before the holidays in December 2022.
"There were winds of 45 to 50 miles an hour coming straight out of the west," she said. "It was 40-some degrees below zero. It just blew all that snow and ice into my furnace exhaust and into the furnace. It just stopped it cold. And with no furnace and it being so cold, my water line froze. My son came out and tried to turn off the water at the stop box, but the water line was out and everything was frozen up. It just all happened simultaneously, and it got really ugly."
Sandra enrolled in HomeServe’s emergency home repair plan through the Des Moines Water Works because her home was built in the 1920s and she wanted to be sure that she had help in case she needed it. HomeServe’s emergency repair plans ensure that a licensed, insured contractor is dispatched to policy holders’ home and they are shielded from covered repair costs up to their benefit amount.
Sandra’s preparations paid off when multiple home systems failed during the December storm.
"Everything that happened was a blur," she said, noting that she had to abandon her home and temporarily move to a relative’s home for several days. "It happened December 22, and then I called HomeServe. Torgerson Excavating called back and said they were able to come out the next day and fix it."
Sandra praised the communication between herself, the HomeServe customer service agents and network contractor Torgerson Excavating.
"Totally 100 percent I was kept in the loop," she said. "Everything was perfect. Torgerson was perfect and got all the pipe repair work taken care of."
She was less enthusiastic about her homeowners insurance provider, which considered the storm a natural disaster and didn’t offer her any assistance.
"It was 40-some degrees below zero. It just blew all that snow and ice into my furnace exhaust and into the furnace. It just stopped it cold. And with no furnace and it being so cold, my water line froze. My son came out and tried to turn off the water at the stop box, but the water line was out and everything was frozen up. It just all happened simultaneously, and it got really ugly."
"They didn’t cover a single thing," she said. "All the water pipes and the furnace – all of that was out of pocket. I’ve paid $200 a month for insurance for years and not a single thing."
However, she was happy to have saved $1,400 on her water service line repair with HomeServe.
"You really came through for me," she said. "What a blessing you are. I highly recommend HomeServe, and I have given your phone number to people – that’s how much I appreciate you and how much I think others will as well. You’re an amazing company, and I don’t know what I would have done without you."
Published Jan 12, 2023