Imagine something being completely out of your control that's completely your fault and ends up costing you thousands of dollars. That's what one Roanoke man is dealing with after his sewer pipes backed up into his home.
Joe Kiser will always remember the light drizzle we had on February 26, but not for a good reason,
"Well, I had just picked up a pizza to eat when I got home from work around 8:30, as soon as I stepped in the house I hit water, soon as I turned on the light I seen what it was. The first thought in my mind was 'I just lost my appetite'
Joe Kiser's lightened up a little now, but "It's just been a nightmare."
If the thought of what goes down your toilet coming back up doesn't make you nauseous, imagine fixing it out of pocket to the tune of 20-thousand dollars.
"A string of bad luck. It's been frustrating dealing with others trying to get things taken care of. It's been one thing after another," said Kiser.
After seeing the mess this ordeal caused in his home, he wishes he paid more attention when he bought his home insurance policy.
Kiser added, "Really, people just need to know about the sewage backup endorsement that goes on your policy basically, I didn't know anything about it, it happened, next thing I know, it's coming out of my pocket."
Sarah Baumgardner with the Western Virginia Water Authority says these are caused by a variety of problems and the water authority "Strongly recommend that each homeowner purchases the sewer backup rider that is on their homeowners insurance policy. It's a low cost. And it will help them if there's a sewer backup."
The Western Virginia Water Authority helps to an extent, depending on the situation it will pay a certain amount in claims. It helped Kiser to the tune of 10-thousand dollars.
"We're going to do all the maintenance and all the work necessary on the public right of way. From the customers property line through the customers house is the customers responsibility," said Baumgardner.
For now Kiser's doing most of the repairs himself as he sorts his way out of this watery mess.
These situations are exceedingly rare. While insurance is among one of the best ways to prevent these problems, it pays to just be a knowledgeable homeowner. Knowing things like the topography of your house relative to other homes in the neighborhood and what's going down your drains can go a long way.
