Underground Leak Resulted in $4,000 Water Bill

Leaky Toilet Leads to $3,100 Sewer Line Repair

Dennis got a call from the Town of Rock Hall, Maryland; they had just done the quarterly water meter reading and the meter said that his household had used 100,000 gallons in the previous three months.

The average American household uses approximately 12,000 gallons of water in a month.

“The town called me to alert me of extraordinary usage,” Dennis said. “It goes up a little bit in the summer when we water the lawn during a dry spell, but this was extraordinarily high. I was told I needed to determine where the leak was and get it repaired. I had no idea when it started or for how long it was leaking. I spent the whole day checking all the fixtures inside – the toilets, faucets and water heater, but it wasn’t any of them. There was no evidence in the yard, either.”

Dennis knew his next step would be to call HomeServe. He reviewed his paperwork and was confident that HomeServe would help, but he didn’t realize that HomeServe would cover all aspects of the repair, including dispatching a licensed, insured and qualified plumber to his home to address the repair.

“I thought that I would have to contact a plumber and submit a bill,” he said. “They told me, ‘no, we arrange for the plumbers to come.’”

After an initial visit from Corados Services for leak detection services, Harmonious Plumbing was dispatched to replace 50 feet of Dennis’ water service line.

“I got a call from Woodrow (Richardson), the owner of Harmonious, in the evening and he told me he would come out,” Dennis said. “He was great. There were some delays because of the weather, but when he got here and started working on replacing the line, he also discovered a leak at the meter box.

“Woodrow found the leak in the yard and replaced 50 feet of pipe – he was out here Saturday most of the day,” Dennis said, adding that there was another, internal plumbing problem discovered during the repair that he also addressed during the ordeal.

“I’m really grateful I had HomeServe. I didn’t really think about it, but when a water line repair happens, it’s a big job and it’s going to be expensive, so having coverage makes a whole lot of sense.”

“I’m very satisfied with Harmonious and the job they did,” Dennis said. “I have no leaks now. When Woodrow was explaining it all, I’m a layman, so I had to ask a few times, ‘tell me again,’ but he didn’t get frustrated because he had to tell me more than once. I can’t think of anything that would have made the whole experience easier or better.”

Dennis saved over $5,500 on the leak detection and repair, and he has hopes that part of his $4,000 water and sewer bill will be forgiven by the town because he was able to quickly address the repair once the issue was discovered.

“I’m really grateful I had HomeServe,” he said. “We got a mailer that the town was partnering with HomeServe, and they asked residents if they wanted to get coverage through the program. I thought it was a good idea. I didn’t really think about it, but when a water line repair happens, it’s a big job and it’s going to be expensive, so having coverage makes a whole lot of sense. We signed up in 2021, and I was real happy we did that.”

Published March 28, 2024

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