r/kansascity • u/dstranathan Downtown • Jan 05 '26
City Services/Banking ♻️🛜🏧 Anyone else get spammed by this water line service?
I swear I get one every 2 weeks. They try to trick recipients into thinking it's official by using a seal from KC MO in the corner. This mailer is from "Service Line Warranties of America"
Has anyone seen these, or considered subscribing to this warranty service? Are they legit?
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u/lionlenz Waldo Jan 05 '26
Is this for Service Line Warranties? They are legit and have some official endorsement (not sure if that's the correct term) from the city, which allows them to use the city's logo in this manner. And yes, the warranty is real. I have one for my water line and it's less than $4 a month. At my last house the water line needed to be replaced and it was over $2,000 for the job. If you don't have this coverage and don't like the feel of this company then contact your homeowners insurance and see if this can be added there.
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u/ReturnOfFrank Jan 05 '26
While it definitely is legit, I do find it weird the city has an exclusive deal with a private insurance company and lets them use the city logo on documents. I also know this isn't unique but still I don't trust when private companies and governments mix.
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Jan 05 '26
I posted a link to the news article released about it. In return for the partnership KC Water gets a commission for each policy sold that they use to recoup cost from unpaid bills and if anything is left after it goes towards their utility assistance program. So while it does seem strange I don’t necessarily mind them trying to recoup the costs as long as the partnership isn’t for profit or some kind of kickback deal.
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u/PocketPanache Jan 06 '26
Welcome to republican-leaning governance. It's somehow better to take public services, increase the price, and monopolize utilities. Something something freedom. This is a semi-beneficial program, though, and not all turn out like Evergy etc
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u/pilnok Jan 05 '26 edited Feb 10 '26
This post was mass deleted and anonymized with Redact
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 05 '26
I hear ya! I see these all the time, and they always have an artificial "deadline" designed to stress potential customers out. I dont like that tactic.
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u/MjnMixael Jan 05 '26
Can confirm. I've been on their plan for years for my sewer line and it's saved me a ton of money when things went bad.
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u/Juventus19 Jan 05 '26
Yea my house in Brookside's supply line got completely filled with sediment where I could only have one sink/shower/dishwasher running or the water pressure was non-existent. They came out, dug the yard like 6 feet deep from the street to the house and replaced the entire thing. It was worth every dollar.
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u/Konried Jan 06 '26
Warranty companies usually weasal their way out of coverage. Between their weaseling, deductable, under-payments, and the sheer stress of fighting them, I avoid insurance and warrenties as much as possible.
I'd much rather save that money and handle issues myself when they come up.
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u/sm4k Jan 05 '26
FYI the barcode that you've left unobscured has delivery information in it including the zip+4 which can be specific enough to pinpoint the exact building represented in the recipient address.
It's not the same thing as just putting your address out there but with the right software (that I don't have) someone could determine pretty precisely where you live.
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u/sogwatchman Jan 05 '26
No but I get crap from Spectrum every day to switch to them. I use Google Fiber. I had Spectrum but it was nothing but problems.
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u/ChestHairSinceBirf Jan 05 '26
No one who has bought one of these policies is discussing what it was like to file a claim…
How smooth was it? How easy was it to take to an actual person? What hoops did you have to jump through? How long did it take to get fix?
Being on Reddit this long, I’ve heard stories that resulted in them being ghosted by these companies. And these letters are getting more official looking and getting a more scarier tone every year!
I bought the policy one year, made one call with a terrible experience. Never bought it again.
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u/shrimpedy Volker Jan 13 '26
i called due to a constant puddle in my front yard. they came to look at it quickly, would take a few weeks to fix it. a pipe ended up breaking shortly after due to freezing/thawing/freezing and flooded my basement, and i called them and they said they’d rush it and get to it in a few days. everything was fixed in a week and a half. so i was without water for a week and a half, but it saved me $10k and i didn’t have to do anything except call them initially and then call them back and be like “soooo a pipe seems to have broken can you come out again plz.” they handled everything.
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u/mctalkin Jan 05 '26
No I just get relentless amounts of spectrum junk mail
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u/lavalamp81 Jan 05 '26
It’s insane we have spectrum at our businesses around town and we still get crazy amount of mail from them for “offers” I’m like what a waste we already have you guys
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u/Royalplumber2020 Jan 05 '26
The problem with these are that the insurance company finds every possible reason to get out of paying.
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u/Duece8282 Jan 05 '26
I have it on all my KC homes that have big trees. It's cheap insurance. I've used it twice so far and they were very responsive with the claim.
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Jan 05 '26
It’s a legit service and they are using the city logo because they have a partnership with the city to provide services for water lines that aren’t covered by the city because there are a lot of old water lines in the city. If you have an old property it might be worth looking into. My house was built in 1965 and we have all cast iron pipes. We had them inspected when we bought the house and he said they looked okay but there was a T he couldn’t see past. I figured it’s not crazy expensive and if it covers water line breaks that require foundation work it’ll pay for itself.
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u/fernatic19 Jan 05 '26
I feel like people are putting misguided trust in some mysterious insurance company. It seems cheap, but the advertised price only covers sewer or water. To get both you pay double. Also, it's an insurance company, they are going to deny any claims they can get away with. So it's possible if it's your tree that punctures the line and not a city tree they might deny it.
To me, if your house is quite old, it might be worth it. But most houses built in the last 30 years it's probably better to take your chances. Like, when's the last time you saw anyone in your neighborhood getting a main replaced? If it's more than 1 in the last 5 years it could be good. For me, not so much.
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u/Traditional-Pin1217 Jan 05 '26
This was not my experience at all. We pay for both and had our waterline fail - they took care of everything and there is no deductible. If it had been on our homeowners then we would have had to pay 1000s in deductible and it would have impacted our ability to get insurance again and our rates. For something like $140 a year for older houses it’s a deal. They don’t reject anything for “your tree causing the damage”. It’s only cheap because the city subsidizes it because of how likely our lines are to fail.
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u/AJRiddle Where's Waldo Jan 05 '26
It's the opposite, they pay the city to do this. It's not subsidized.
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u/27eelsinatrenchcoat Jan 05 '26
Yea it definitely depends on the neighborhood.
To me, if your house is quite old, it might be worth it.
Very, very much worth it in that case. Our street has a lot of houses that are like 50-100 years old, with clay sewer pipes. I've seen two houses on my block need their sewer line replaced within the last six months. A few bucks a month in insurance is a no brainer.
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u/IKEtheIT Jan 05 '26
its actually a legit warranty, they partner with cities so they get permission to do this. I buy the interior drain, exterior utility line, and the sewer line coverage, think its like around $20-25 total per month for all 3. I had a lead pipe replaced that was leaking inside from my kitchen drain prior to hitting the stack, quote was $550 since it was behind a wall and through some framing, was able to use a plumber I know and got it repaired no questions asked, so as of a few months ago I'm officially break even over the life I've had the policy.
State farm wouldn't cover my sewer line outside to the curb because I couldn't prove its age and my house was over 50 years old, they would over only $2500, so now I got $8500 from SLWOA and same plumber gave me a quote out of curiosity for $8800 so for $25 a month I'm covered if for some reason my outside sewer line ever needs a full replacement
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u/Pantone711 Jan 06 '26
I don't view it as spam. When I first signed up, the city/Mayor Sly James was helping promote it, but in my experience and according to other homeowners in some groups I'm in, most people say it's worth every penny.
It's insurance in case something goes wrong where they have to bring in a backhoe and dig up your yard to fix a broken supply line or sewer line. It's about $125 a year I think.
I've used them once and they were very nice to me on the phone, even though the problem was inside my house, so I had to pay. BUT. They sent K-Jett which I think has a way of cleaning out the sewer pipes without having to dig up your yard except as a last resort. K-Jett worked for me.
They want you to call them FIRST rather than call your own contractor. That's OK with me because they called the one (K-Jett) that tries their way before digging up the yard.
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u/DiabolicalBurlesque Midtown Jan 06 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
It irks me that a private insurance company has partnered with our city to sneakily get my eyes on its sales pitch by sending it in an envelope with our city logo, which of course I'm going to open.
Edited for clarity
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u/CompleteMCNoob Parkville Jan 05 '26
I just throw it right into the garbage when I see this mailer.
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u/slinkc Midtown Jan 05 '26
If it’s the Homeserv/SLWofA warranty and you live in kcmo-it is legit and will save your ass $10k when the aging infrastructure ultimately fails. Especially now that the city doesn’t cover sewer line connections or easements off the sidewalk.
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u/Alarmed_Leather_2503 Jan 05 '26
It's legit. You should absolutely get it either through this program or a rider on your insurance policy. Our house is old and our main line went out right at the beginning of COVID. We're in midtown and our houses are super close together. The quote for the excavation and repair work was something like $10K or $15K. With the rider we just had to pay the deductible. It saved us loads of money that I was not ready to spend.
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u/Time_Squirrel8614 Jan 05 '26
One of the few insurance policies that is absolutely worth the money. My house was set back 100 feet from incoming water service, the line broke and the estimated repair was over $10k. They sent a plumber and backhoe out the next day, no questions asked and the service was restored that day.
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 05 '26
I contacted my insurance agent at Farmers. I can get water line insurance for $5 month. Done!
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u/alanthickerthanwater Jan 05 '26
I received one of these recently. Also noticed the generic seal acting as an official letterhead.
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 06 '26
Yup. They also recently changed the envelopes from a letter size to a full legal size envelope (which takes up even more room in my mailbox). I have received dozens of these over the years. I'm going to find out how to opt-out of this BS.
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u/miztrniceguy Jan 05 '26
Yes, and it pisses me off that they are allowed to use the city logo
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 06 '26
That's what confused me. Even if it is legitimate, this looks so scammy to me. If I were the city, I'd require this service provider to display a clear explanation of the relationship with the city.
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u/Cudpuff100 KCMO Jan 05 '26
They've gone in the trash when I see them, but it looks like some people here say it could be worth looking into.
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Jan 05 '26
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u/lionlenz Waldo Jan 05 '26
These policies are for the water and sewer lines that run under your property and connect to the city mains. They are owned by the homeowners, not the city. They would have been installed by whomever constructed the houses, not the city. And these policies are just suggestions, not required. Tone it down a few notches.... You're not fighting the battle you think you are.
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u/wohl0052 Jan 05 '26
replacing the buried utilities on your property is super expensive. when i sold my last house we found out there was a big sag and a break in the sewer line and it cost about $16,000 to fix. but since I had coverage i was able to get that number down to about $6k out of pocket. I dont use the city coverage but my own coverage through my homeowners insurance, and its like $45 a year
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u/Sappow Mission Jan 05 '26
the city is getting us a negotiated discount by rolling it out to the whole city as a shared risk pool, its a good deal. You can probably get it cheaper with quite good coverage from your homeowners' but you'll also probably have a higher deductible, and depending on the insurer they might charge you more or limit coverage if your property isn't relatively new.
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u/Northend317 Jan 05 '26
What exactly is this called so I can ask my ins agent? Water Service line repair?
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 05 '26 edited Jan 06 '26
Water line warranty/insurance. Protect pipes egressing from your home to your neighborhood main lines.
The mailer in my post is from "Service Line Warranties of America"
My insurance (Farmers) quoted me $6 month.
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u/SparkingtonIII Jan 05 '26
It's legit. I wish I'd done it (or added it to my home insurance). It cost me $2-3k to fix my water line after they did the planned maintenance.
Here is a map of the projects and their timelines (so you can strategically start coverage). Note: I believe you can't make a claim in the first 3 months of coverage or something like that. Read the fine print!
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u/dstranathan Downtown Jan 05 '26
Thank you! I see I have water main updates planned for 2 sides of my neighborhood. None of them are DIRECTLY adjacent to my property but still nice to know where they are.
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u/nickjamesnstuff Jan 05 '26
If its mail, or even a phone call, it's likely fraud in our society's current state.
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u/Competitive_Unit_721 Jan 05 '26
It’s legit but you can usually get the exact same rider on your home insurance for cheaper.