I'm posting on behalf of a friend who's dealing with a pretty frustrating sewer line issue. The sewer line collapsed right after it branched towards her house, but since it's not the main line, the city is saying they won't cover the costs. The tricky part is that this line runs under the street, and now she's been told she'll have to pay to dig up and repave the street to fix it. Since it's not on her property, the sewer protection plan doesn't apply either. Is it common for cities to not take responsibility in situations like this? Has anyone else faced something similar?
3 Answers
In my experience, homeowners usually have to take responsibility for the sewer line from their home all the way to the main line in the street, including anything under the road itself. That means if a sewer collapses, the homeowner could end up covering all the repair costs, which includes digging up the road and putting it back together. Sounds rough!
Yeah, it's pretty wild. I've worked with a bunch of different municipalities, and I've never seen one deny responsibility for infrastructure that isn't on private property.
I would definitely recommend having her call the utility company directly to get a clear answer. I've found policies can really differ from place to place, so it’s worth checking.
From what I understand, typically, whoever is doing the demolition has to cover the repair costs. So it seems like your friend will be stuck with this bill. It’s pretty rough, I know! Tough luck on that one.
That’s crazy! I can’t believe insurance wouldn’t cover it, though. Seems unfair, right?