Homeowners' flooding Insurance claim denied by St. Joseph Township

ST. JOSEPH TOWNSHIP, Mich. -- Homeowners on Lydia Drive are grateful that the Township has agreed to start and quarter of a million dollar project to replace all of the water mains in their neighborhood.  But some say the battle is not over yet. 

Valerie Bomberger and her husband say they were dumbfounded when they received a letter from the St. Joe Township insurance company denying their claim. The letter states that the insurance company does not see any negligence on behalf of the township.

But the Bombergers' house has suffered thousands of dollars in flood damage and they say after the third water main break, the township had to have known something was wrong. "They don’t want to pay and so they probably now looked at their liability and think that we’ll just go away, but we’re not going away." said Valerie Bomberger.  

At the board meeting on July 1, the residents learned the unique clay in the ground has slowly been eating away at the pipes for years.  "We realize the most of the water lines in this township are 40 years old and so we have to have funds there in case there’s an emergency to be ready for it."  explained Roger Seely, St. Joseph Township Board Supervisor.

ABC 57  called a number of insurance agencies to inquire about flooding insurance, the agencies confirmed that flooding insurance only covers natural disasters, not water main breaks.

For now, these homeowners say they are left high and dry, but  with a basement crawl space that still is not dry. 

 

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