Block drain - yard

On Friday,2 August Old Mutual Insure appointed a plumber to repair the blocked drain in my yard. I was told by a support staff person that the Policy only covered the call out fee as well the first hour of labour. The plumber proceeded to insert flexible steel rods in the ventilation pipe.After an unsuccessful attempt to unblock the drain,the service provider pointed out that this was a Johannesburg Water issue as the blockage could be outside the premises. After I logged a call with Johannesburg Water,they arrived on Sunday,4 August. An employee exclaimed that the rods should have been inserted in the sewerage pipe mounted against the wall ( not the ventilation pipe).

When I mentioned the error to the plumber,they defended their actions declaring the rods were quite long and I would have to take up the matter with my insurance company. An employee of Old Mutual, after consulting the manager of the claims division,drew my attention to the policy wording of Section 6.4.5.2,that the policy does not cover blocked drains.

During the week commencing 12 August,the stench at the overflowing drain after the use of the toilets, washing machine and kitchen sink was unbearable and unsightly.I used three one litre drain cleaning acid,but to no avail .

On Sunday,18 August,in desperation I contacted a retired construction manager for guidance and direction .He obliged with two assistants. A handyman hired us rods with fork couplings I produced the original house plan which showed the layout of the pipes,and where the manhole was located .We started working on Monday,19 August

We thought out of the box - unlike the plumber who only used rods.Once that failed they passed the buck to Johannesburg Water. The less said of Johannesburg Water the better .

We dug up the ground near the two drains and discovered two rodding eyes.The plumber did no digging. Through ongoing digging and rodding,we discovered that the blockage in my yard was two metres from the manhole. No water from my side was flowing into the manhole. Our dogged determination and persistence paid off on the third day,(Wednesday,21 August),as we successfully unblocked the drain.

The total cost for the three days amounted to R3,000 - which includes daily labour,petrol and transport, food and rod hire

I was disappointed that the policy wording was brought to my attention the second time when I raised a complaint.Why were the Old Mutual administration staff not proactive in the first instance?

There is surely no point in paying monthly insurance premiums,if the insurance company cannot provide competent service providers that guarantee job satisfaction and peace of mind.

We dug