Travelers Insurance, City of O'Fallon Elected Officials Deny Main Sewer Back-Up Damages. Customers Stuck with the Bill?

Travelers Insurance and City of O'Fallon ELECTED Officials
Deny Water Main Blockage Back-Up Into Residential Home
(A valuable lesson to ALL our readers - where ever you are

 The City of O'Fallon pump truck that was called out to remove tree roots from the sewer line. The photos were taken at 9:00am, Tuesday,  November 2, 2009. Travelors Insurance has denied THIS claim the evening before (Monday, November 1, 2009 at 6:00pm) because...

are you ready for this 'investigative' logic?

 THE CITY OF O'FALLON MUST HAVE PRIOR KNOWLEDGE THAT THE BACK UP WAS GOING TO OCCUR FOR TRAVELER'S INSURANCE TO DEEM THEM LIABLE!

Prior Knowledge? How long does it take for enough sewer roots
to grow in mass to block a sewer main pipe?

  Homeowners serviced by the City of O'Fallon Sewer System have just had a very dangerous precedent set with the denial of this claim. In the future, if a sewer main backs up into any home or business, and the City of O'Fallon does not have prior knowledge that it is going to occur, TRAVELERS Insurance company will not pay for damages. Do you have insurance for this type of damage in your homeowners coverage? On Tuesday, November 2, 2009 it was determined that our homeowners insurance will not cover any damages because the blockage did not happen on our property. 

What does this mean? According to interim City Administrator  Vicky Boschert with the City of O'Fallon, the decision on whether the City will pay the damages caused by their blacked sewer pipe will be decided by the Mayor and eight councilmen. Factually, the City of O'Fallon has a $25K deductable on any such insurance claim. Our documentation of losses is somewhere between 12K-14K. This, no matter what the outcome would have been, the City would have to pay the first $25K.

Here's the entire story. Read this over...and let the information absorb...for the next time, it could be YOUR property! 

The Story...

 'The Lord Works in Mysterious Ways'… a truism that we face everyday!  We have the means to tell the story, to warn the public, so maybe this has happened for a reason?

  When the heavy rains of this past week met a clog in the City of O’Fallon’s sewer main line that runs along Brookfield Lane, guess whose house was the lucky recipient of all the stormwater?  Ours. Yes, we woke on Friday, October 30th to approximately 4” of backed up stormwater in our finished basement. The site was shocking and frightening.

  Within minutes we discovered at least one other neighbor had the same misfortune to face, for he already had a plumber at his home. The plumber informed us that the back-up was caused by a blockage in the main line.

  I immediately called the City of O’Fallon Water/Sewer Department and within 30 minutes the truck and team were outside, down the street and blowing the clog out of the main line. Shortly after we heard the roar of the truck,  we heard gurgling in our pipes, and the water began to recede. Within minutes, we were left with a saturated basement – minus the four inches of standing water, and the advice to call O’Fallon City Hall for further instructions. The city's technician explained that there was a clog in the pipe, 40 –some yards away from our home connection, and by the luck of the draw (that can only be calculated by some hydrolic equation) the water backs up in various homes, but not all homes. Lucky us!

  Our call was immediately directed to Dan Scherer, a longtime expert with the water/sewer department in O’Fallon. He explained that since the City of O’Fallon brought all the operations in-house, claims such as these are now handled by a staff member in city hall, who was not at their desk that day. He suggested that I call John Griesenauer, Human Resource director with the city.

  As always, John was very helpful in explaining the new process in the handling of such problems. He immediately filed for a claim number and forwarded the information to me. In the new process, that was all the city staff could do. The rest was up to their insurance company – Travelers Insurance.

   Here’s where all the problems begin. And from this point forward, this article will serve as a journal of daily events until the closure is met with Travelers Insurance Company. It is my hope that this document brings fair and honest closure to this awful scenario and also serves as an educational piece for anyone who may face the same unfortunate experience in the future, for there will always be clogged main lines and damages sustained from such. In my opinion, no one should ever have to muddle through to a solution, as we have been forced to do. ( but alas, I’m getting ahead of myself…)

  At 11:30am on October 30, 2009, we received a phone call from a Margaret Loyd from Travelers Insurance. In what we perceived as a very cold, uncaring manner,  Ms Loyd explained that she called to explain three things. First, she wanted to give us her name, phone number and extension and a claim number.  She wanted to let us know it could take 2-3 weeks to render a decision on whether Travelers Insurance would "accept" the claim, and finally, she told us to “mitigate our damages”.

  I was shocked that her statement included “whether they would accept the claim”. My warning signals went off. I explained that there was a drenched basement to contend with that could not wait for 2-3 weeks for their ‘decision’ and that something had to be done immediately to prevent the growth of mold and mildew. (Anyone that suffers from serious allergy problems can understand my sense of concern over these words.) Ms Loyd just continued to repeat her sterile, careless tone of voice and repeated the “mitigate” statement. Finally Ms Loyd stated that we should call our homeowners insurance company and file a claim.  She then added it will take 2-3 weeks to review the past ten years of records on the history of the sewer main where the clog occurred.

  It was obvious, at this point,  that the conversation was over. I voiced my displeasure over the way this situation was handled and began to consider my alternate options. My husband took over the task of conversiations with the insurance companies. I began to take notes.

  He called our homeowners insurance company – MetLife Insurance. We were immediately informed that IF we opened a claim with them, there would be a $1,000 deducible AND we should be aware that it will cause an increase in rates, or possibly denial in renewal of our policy in the future. Once again we were truly stunned and frazzled. Why in the world would we be penalized for a problem caused by the City of O’Fallon’s sewer lines? In the meantime, the basement and all our belonging remain drenched.

  Brian played phone tag with Travelers Insurance's Ms Loyd’s supervior – Matt Therrien.  He provided little to no further assistance. And after the first phone conversation, he never returned a call. (Folks, it's hard to anger a Canadian. Brian was furious at the poor service.)

  Both Travelers Insurance and MetLife Insurance agent’s suggested we call someone experienced in water damage clean-up, but neither would accept responsibility for the payment of the services. This would leave us responsible for the costs of clean-up, which we guestimated to be in excess of a thousand dollars to several thousand dollars. We called Servicemaster and asked if they even provide services and await commitment for payment from insurance companies. They replied that we would have to pay the costs at the time of completion. They also advised us that anything that came in contact with the water needed to be thrown out. That was the only background knowledge we had in how to "mitigate" damages.

  We stepped back to evaluate the situation. Our basement and belongings were soaked with sewer water. Travelers Insurance Company refused to provide the initial assistance in drying out the basement. We were approaching 5:00pm on a Friday afternoon and no party has step forward to help with the situation. How can this be happening? We did not have  the liquid funds readily available to hire the service ourselves and immediately pay out of our pockets. What were we to do?

  At 6:00pm, we began to try to extract water from the carpet with the use of our household Bissell Carpet Cleaner. We worked until 1:30am when our Bissell finally died. We stopped out of exhaustion. Work began again at 7:00am, Saturday morning. Our children are clearing their schedules to join in our efforts to dry out our home. Careful detailed notes are now kept on every item destroyed in the mishap. We hope to get our home to the point that it is safe for us to reside and breathe safely. And, as of Saturday, 10:00am – not one responsible party has contacted us to check on the progression of the clean-up.

  If this is the result of the City of O’Fallon bringing the water/sewer services in-house to save money, then customers of the service best be aware and follow what transpires with our situation for…you could be next.

  It was my fellow neighbor that suggested/asked that I share this information with all our readers.  I agree that all homeowners should be aware of the ‘operations’ of insurance companies past the point of selling their policies. I will now contact some of the elected city councilmen about the situation.

DAILY BLOG

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - 1:00pm

  I have spoken with both Ward 1 Councilman Bill Gardner and Ward 2 Councilman Pierce Conley and explained the situation to them. Bill, well known for his 'can do', volunteer attitude, offered to personally help in any way with the immediate problem at hand - the water sogged basement situation. My son and son-in-law have called out of work to help Brian in listing and removing most of the saturated items to the front yard until further direction from the responsible party. With this matter in control, Bill intends to move forward and discuss the situation further with Councilman Conley.

  After the discussion with councilmen, it becomes apparent that we are charting untraveled territory and a system needs to be developed to immediately assist victims of such disasters in the future. Both Councilmen understand, victims really need immediate assistance to STABILIZE the situation and remove saturated items and carpeting until the insurance company could do their investigation. Both councilmen vow to address this in discussions with the city and respond by Monday.Both councilmen clearly understand the lack of assistance and poor customer service we received to date from Travelers Insurance.

Saturday, October 31, 2009 - 8:10pm

We returned home after three hours away from the house. Even though all the saturated items and carpeting have been removed from the basement to the outdoor, the house is filled with a musty, mildew smell that must be coming from the wet dry wall.  We have five fans running full blast. We have placed buckets of bleach water throughout the house to curb the order.   

Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 8:00am

The house stinks of musty, mildrew and bleach. The pilot light in the hot water heater was extinquished as it was under water too, and now the water heater temperature peaks out at barely lukewarm. My allergies are horrible, adding constant sneezing to the symptoms. We have still not heard a word from Travelers Insurance Company - they did not return any calls. We will spend today going through more water-soaked basement articles that are now displayed outside our home awaiting instructions from Travelers Insurance.

Sunday, November 1, 2009 - 4:00pm

The house REALLY stinks with a musty bleach smell. Our throats hurt from the fumes. Our choices are bleach smell or mildew smell. Either way, the odor is permeating our furniture, bedding...everything that has a fabric consistency. Our upstairs carpeting is filthy from the constant foot traffic from the basement to the upstairs. As with most people, we have a lot of stuff stored downstairs that has to be gone through. We are doing this item by item and separating what can be kept from what must be tossed. Some of our losses are heartbreaking - things from my late mother and brother that can never be replaced. I just keep muttering..."mitigate the damages".  What kind of person/company goes home to enjoy their weekend knowing they have left a family in a mess like this? 

Monday, November 2, 2009 6:00am

  No use in trying to sleep any longer. We have splitting headaches and sore throats and the house stinks of musty bleach. We have done all we can do to "mitigate our damages". Let the day begin.

  Last evening I sent an e-mail to Travelors Insurance via their website. they ask for permission to use select comments for upcoming promotions and advertising. I gave my permission for them to use this article. (That's about as much good-humor I can muster up after this weekend.)

  We still have so many boxes of storage to go through. Our newspaper and on-line store are home-based businesses. Up until 10 days ago, the office was in the finished basement. Also, just last weekend, my son moved to a new home he purchased. He removed his things from the storage of our basement at that time. We had our secondary computer towers, monitors and printers on the floor - all are destroyed BUT my main computer was already set up in the new office upstairs. About 50% of our storage was in plastic totes and the other 50% in boxes. Lesson learned. Everything will be in totes in the future. (Please learn from our lesson. This really could happen to anyone. We lost many family pictures, old family Christmas Decorations and things that can not be replaced. I wouldn't want anyone else to go through this loss.)

Monday, November 2, 2009  1:30pm

  I called John Griesenauer at 10:00am and he soon after returned my call. John assured me he would do everything possible to expedite this claim, however advised me that he does not have the authority to make any decisions or to authorize and further action. I asked that he get this problem to whoever had that authority and quickly. I also invited him to come out and smell and see these damages himself. He politely declined. 

 John called back again to let me know he has discussed this with the city's insurance agent, Patty Vehige, and that she promises to try to expedite some action on her end. Also, John wanted to let me know that he would not do "anything more for me, than he would do for anyone else."

  In the aftermath, I found myself thinking about what John said and laughing! God Bless Ya, John, but nobody...not the City of O'Fallon nor Travelers Insurance have done a thing...but lip service! (That must have been humor...right?) 

  Anyway... I agreed to wait for further findings this afternoon. I'll keep everyone posted...

Monday, November 2, 2009  2:15pm

  I received a phone call from Gino Voltz (sp?) from Travelers Insurance, who stated he read the e-mail I left last night on the company website and wanted to update me on our claim. Gino sounded to be a very polite and considerate representative of Travelers Insurance. Through all the kind and understanding words, not much more was accomplished. I pointed this out to him clearly. I really do not want anyone to call to 'hold my hand' or 'understand' how I feel. Four days later...the stink and damage still remains...I still have no answers as to how to proceed. I want results.

  One interesting hint came out in the conversation. Through veiled words, I believe I understood that IF the insurance company feels that the study of the maintenance of the sewer lines was done to their satisfaction, they may not "accept" the claim. Both Mr. Voltz and I agreed it was probably best that we 'wait' to appraoch THAT possibility. I

  I agreed to wait until 5:00pm today to decide on any further action. Mr. Voltz promised to return a call to me by then. I will keep everyone posted...

Monday, November 2, 2009, 6:00pm

  Well folks, we received a return phone call from Mr. Gino Voltz of Travelers Insurance and the City of O'Fallon's insurance company denied the claim for the damage our home sustained when the city's main sewer line clogged up and backed up into our home.  Honestly, we are so upset over this news that I will wait to post any further at this time. Stay tuned...

Tuesday, November 3, 2009

We recieved the following e-mail from Ward One Councilman Bill Gardner:

 "I haved talked to Mr. Conley and spoke with Dan Scherer at 4:30PM.
No answers just a lot of opinons. I am, first of all,  looking to see if this would have been done the same if not brought in house. Did we do anything different?
  If you recall I was a big supporter of this and not because of cost saving.
I am still working on this.
Bill Gardner

The following response was returned via e-mail:

Dear Councilman Gardner...
  The City of O'Fallon's insurance company denied the claim...stating that if the City of O'Fallon was not aware this could happen, it is not their responsibility. You can read the entire drama on the newspaper website.

In the meantime, our living conditions are worsening - there are only so much bleach fumes a human can endure. I live and work out of this home. So, last night we opened a claim with our insurance company and will face the guarantee of a rate increase and the good chance of our insurance policy cancelled - placing us in a very vulnerable position for an even higher rate increase with our next insurance company.

The injustice of all of this is beyond comprehension.

I was also a supporter of the decision to bring the sewer service in-house. As a matter of fact, I want you to know that the service received to eliminate the blockage was excellent. John Greisenauer and Dan Scherer have been wonderful in their efforts to come to an amicable solution. The problem lies with Traveler Insurance.

In our opinion, from the very start of the claim, the representatives of Travelers Insurance only tried to find a way NOT to accept the claim. They did not care about the health and well-being of the victims, nor the fair and honest way to handle the situation. The City of O'Fallon powers-that-be selected the WRONG insurance company to protect the customers serviced by city sewer services. PERIOD! In the best interests of the people that the elected councilmen serve, the renewal of a city-wide contract with Travelers Insurance MUST BE DENIED! THEN, the City of O'Fallon has done their due diligence. Additionally, please let me know when this contract goes out for bid again. In the best interests of the customers the city and this newspaper serves, I intend to follow through with informing the public on next year's selection process and outcome.

Another bit of information...the Travelers Insurance representative , Mr. Gino Voltz slipped up during his initial conversation with me yesterday and pre-announced the end result of denial of the claim...citing the 'possible reason' as the EXACT reason delivered to us hours later. During the 'denial conversation' last night, he also told us that records show that the main line was cleaned out in June of 2009 - five months ago. Please make an effort to come out and drive down Brookfield Lane to see the amount of foliage that has dropped from these 30+ year old trees in our area this fall. And, please remember that the retention pond added to this neighborhood with the building of O'Fallon Walk was filled to the top with standing water when this all occurred.

Regardless, HOW the City of O'Fallon's main sewer line clogged up over 40-yards away from my property line is not my responsibility. The responsibility belongs to the city of O'Fallon and I feel confident it will be found as such at the end of this nightmare.

As I stated at the beginning of this mess..."the Lord works in mysterious ways"...there is a reason why we have fallen VICTIMS to this injustice. As you should well-know, I do not play the role of the 'silent, down-trodden victim' well and I do not back off until a problem is solved. 

In all sincerity, we thank you for YOUR concern and follow-up. As always Councilman Gardner - you are an exemplary representative of the people and the City of O'Fallon.

Sincerely,
Jayne Voss-Robinson
 
To continue with the daily blog...our dryer does not work now. That sure adds to the glory of this day. I think I have a good idea as to why...

As mentioned in my response to Councilman Gardner, we broke down and opened a claim with our insurance company. We have to get some immediate action to this growing problem. After I speak with our claims adjuster, I will post another follow-up.

Tuesday, November 3, 2009  10:03am

I have just been informed from my homeowners insurance agent that our homeowners  DOES NOT COVER damages due to problems not located on our property. This probelm has now reached a whole new level. Lesson to learn: closely check your homeowners policies - especially if you live in an older neighborhood. However, our agent clearly stated that they would not cover damages caused by blockages off away from the insured's property line. Meanwhile, The City of O'Fallon trucks are still outside cleaning out roots and debris from sewer lines. I have two messages awaiting response from John Griesenauer with the City of O'Fallon. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2009  12:05pm

I received a phone call from Vicky Boschert, interim City Administrator with the City of O'Fallon. Basically, very politely Vicky told me that she did not have any authority to determine an outcome with this. She stated that the final determination on whether the city will assume the responsibility of the malfunctioning of their sewer main lies with the decision of the Mayor and elected councilmen.

Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - 9:30am

Vicky Boschert, interim City Administrator for the City of O'Fallon called and in a very brief conversation stated that the Mayor and Councilmen decided to follow in the direction of Travelers Insurance. They have denied city liability for the blackage of tree roots in the sewer main line, which now places all the losses and expense incurred on the victims. (Yes, we have since discovered several neighbors have also incurred damages due to the back-up.)

This where this blog will end, where we begin a new road for justice.  Until such justice is served, I will not be posting on this subject.

Thursday  November 5, 2009 - 8:00am

Oops! I guess I closed the blog too soon. A claims adjuster arrive at our home to inspect all the damages to our home and personal possessions. He asked that we send a copy of the list of losses we've been documenting to his e-mail account. He wasn't exactly sure which insurance company sent him out.

Thursday, November 5, 2009 - 1:30pm

 Do you remember Margaret Loyd from Travelers Insurance Company? She called to answer Brian's question...from last FRIDAY. Just wanted to let us know that Mr. Voltz would be hadling the claim and he would let us know the outcome of the investigation. Errrr, no comment.

In closing...It is my hope that all customers of the City of O'Fallon sewer service (and all our readers as a whole) take heed, spread the word and let neighbors and friends know of the dangerous precedent set by these decisions. The next occurance...and you can be assured there will always be such occurances...might be YOUR home. In my opinion,  the elected representatives have once again failed the people. I don't know how anyone can argue that they have done "the right thing".

A very wise person just stated to me..."insurance companies are in the business to say "no" and make money, regardless of right or wrong." The City of O'Fallon elected officials sided with the insurance company philosophy and not in the best interest of the 'people'. It may be time to clean the city's government house too.  

Remember this at election time.

In the furture, this article/blog will be moved to Consumer Beware section of this newspaper. It may serve as a good reference to the next victim of such a travesty. If you have been a victim of the same injustice, please blog your 'lessons learned' for others to see.