Exterior Water Service Line Coverage
$7.95/mo
$23.85/qtr
$95.40/yr
Yvonne E. was having a run of terrible luck. She had spent a month in the hospital and a rehab facility and lost her employment.
Then she returned to her Lander, WY, home in the heart of a brutal Wyoming winter to find that her water service line had burst in the cold.
“It was the worst winter when I got out of the hospital,” she said. “There was water all over and running out under the ground. The water bill went berserk. I thought, ‘I don’t have the money to fix this, because I don’t have a job.’”
The cold had been so intense that Yvonne wasn’t the only person having trouble with her water lines, she said. However, she had her own troubles to deal with as her water service line continued to spill water into the ground in her yard. She estimated that the water bill, which usually cost about $56 prior to the break, shot up to an average of $1,000 per month.
“I couldn’t believe I was losing water the way I was,” she said. “It was an enormous amount, going straight down into the ground and I had no indication until I got the water bill.”
Yvonne was caught between a rock and a hard place. She was still struggling with her health, using oxygen to breathe, and she needed access to clean water. Yet the broken water line was spilling thousands of gallons of water that she ultimately had to pay for. As a compromise, she turned the water on for only a few hours a day.
“I turned it on for a couple hours, just so the water wouldn’t go everywhere,” she said.
With a mounting water bill, a broken water line and no job or way to pay for either, Yvonne thought she might lose her home. Then, Danielle B., the Lander city water clerk, had a suggestion: the HomeServe Cares Foundation.
“There was water all over and running out under the ground. The water bill went berserk. I thought, ‘I don’t have the money to fix this, because I don’t have a job.'”
“Danielle is a very caring person,” Yvonne said.
HomeServe is a leading provider of emergency home repair services, and the HomeServe Cares Foundation is its charitable arm, providing pro bono repairs that impact safety, sanitation and quality of life to qualifying homeowners.
Danielle directed Yvonne to apply for aid through the Foundation, and her request was approved.
Interaction with the Foundation was “excellent,” Yvonne said. “They helped every way they could. They saved my life because I had no way of fixing it.”
The Foundation dispatched B&M Septic and Excavation Services of Riverton, WY, to dig up and repair Yvonne’s water service line. Yvonne was happy to see the company, who had previously done work at her home when she’d been in better circumstances and needed septic line work done.
“Everything went perfect,” Yvonne said. “Dustin and his crew are great people. B&M Excavation is who you want to get if you need this kind of work done.”
In short order, the work was completed, the Foundation covered the $4,500 cost and Yvonne no longer had to worry about her leaking water line.
“Thank God for the Foundation,” Yvonne said. “I can’t thank them enough. Please tell the Foundation that they saved my home and to have someone do something nice for you when you’re struggling – I can’t thank them enough. It was a life saver. There was nothing I could do (about the needed repair).”
Published Oct 6, 2023