PITTSBURGH,None — Some Pittsburgh Water and Sewer customers who said they paid extra for insurance are now being forced to pay for repairs that were supposed to be covered.
Jim and Valerie Riordan said they recently received a letter from an attorney that threatened to put a lien on their home if they didn't pay $6,000 for sewer line repairs that were made several months ago.
"We don't have a savings like a lot of people do, so we'd have to sell off a lot of belongings just to make that payment," Valerie Riordan said.
The Riordan's said their old sewer line collapsed in February, but they thought the repair work was covered by insurance they paid an additional $5 per month through the PWSA.
The company that supplied the insurance, called Utility Line Security, hired plumbers to fix the sewer line.
"I did not have any contractual agreement with the plumber. I never saw an estimate. I didn't know how much the bill was actually for," Jim Riordan said.
Since the work was completed, the plumbers said they never got paid. Now the plumbers are seeking payment from the Riordan's.
"Unfortunately in this situation our residents are being held hostage," said PWSA Chairman Dan Deasy.
Deasy said the problem began in March after a judge ruled that the protection plan was illegal, and shortly after that the ULS filed for bankruptcy.
"In the beginning we thought providing this insurance to our residents, we were being helpful. Now it gives us a black eye," said Deasy.
Now there's a dispute between the insurance company, which claims it wasn't paid enough for the work, and the PWSA, which claims it paid in full.
In the meantime, the plumbers and the homeowners are caught in the middle.
"My client, Terry's Plumbing, was left being owed $175,000, which is an awful lot of money for a small businessman," said Terry's Plumbing attorney Mike Shiner.
Shiner claims that the owner of Terry's Plumbing had to take out a loan to pay his employees. Now, six months later, the company is going after the homeowners for the unpaid bill.
"There's one reason and one reason only, and that's to turn up the pressure on the water and sewer authority," Shiner said.
The Riordan's said they have called the PWSA but have not been able to get any resolution to the matter.
"Hopefully they can be patient, and hopefully this thing gets resolved," said Deasy.
Lawyers from both Terry's Plumbing and the PWSA are due in court at the end of the month.
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