By Gagandeep Ghuman
Published: April 20, 2012
It was a cold, wet morning of January 2010 when Guncha Singh learned two unforgettable lessons about Squamish.
Lesson number one: Infrastructure in our town is crumbling.
Lesson number two: If you are on the receiving end of this decay, then you are in for some hassle.
Guncha Singh woke up that morning to hear a commotion outside his house, followed quickly by a phone call from a neighbour asking him to look outside.
He drew the curtain and found a water fountain gushing from the street outside his house.
In his driveway, he noticed water bubbling through min-craters that seem to widen every passing minute.
By the time he backed out his cars on the other side of the street, his driveway looked like a sheet of metal that had been hammered all night long.
The culprit turned out to be a 40-year-old pipe that had burst open on Westway Ave., flooding basements on homes across the street and making mini-craters in the driveway of Guncha Singh.
The flooded street and ripped open driveway on that morning marked a beginning of a journey for Guncha Singh, one that would make him do the rounds in small-claim courts in Vancouver, and one that would see him return empty handed, tired and angry.
The very first thing he did that day was to ask the district staff to take responsibility for the pipe burst and rebuild his driveway, just like the road they had built promptly. His insurance had refused to pay for the driveway, saying it’s not covered by them. They suggested he approach the city.
“I also wanted the city to realise it wasn’t my fault that the old pipe had burst and destroyed my driveway,” he said.
Guncha Singh, who was working at a Whistler hotel at the time, said he was supporting a family of five at the time, and had no money to fix the driveway.
When the district refused to rebuild the driveway, he approached council members, one of whom suggested he should take the district to court.
A few months later, Guncha Singh filed a claim with the small claims court.
It reads: “I talked several times with the district employees over the phone. They keep saying it’s not the district fault.”
The district’s response: It’s your fault.
This is the district reply to the claim filed by Guncha Singh for $11,000:
“The claimant has failed to take reasonable step to ensure the property described was protected from risk of flooding,”
Guncha Singh says those words were like adding salt to his wounds.
“I wake up one day and find an old pipe has destroyed my driveway, and then I’m being asked to take the blame for it. How is that fair?”
That is a question still hanging in the air.
Last year, at the suggestion of the arbiter, he decided to withdraw his claim, after it became clear the district won’t take responsibility for the burst pipe.
He had also been missing too many days at work, wasting too much time and energy travelling to Vancouver.
“I just wanted to get out of there,” he said.
After he dropped his claim, he said the arbiter suggested he still had a legal course.
He could sue the district, but he would need to hire a lawyer, and a translator.
“I was losing money from missing work and here they were asking me to pay for a translator and a lawyer.”
Guncha Singh said he left the court, hoping he would never have to go there again.
Since, then he has borrowed $5,000 from his line of credit to fix his driveway, but he says he would want every citizen to know our infrastructure is crumbling.
“I hope no one is on its receiving end again,” he said.
Ruth Simons says
Why wouldn’t the homeowner’s insurance pay the cost of the repair and the insurer go after the district to recover costs? I am sure this is an insurance claim.
Muriel Shephard says
Is this type of damage not covered by one’s house insurance? I would have hoped so.
Don Patrick says
Guncha… unfortunately in liability terms this is or was referred to an act of god and is a common exclusion is any legal liability type claim. No it was not your fault and no it was not the DOS fault… so the same conclusion you got, no ones fault. Not easy to accept but for example,if your neighbours tree falls on your home , guess who pays for the damage ?. Hopefully you have an insurance policy with that named peril to pay for the damages to your home and you pay the deductible. Same reasoning, not your tree, not your fault and not the neigbours fault unless proven neglegent… you pay for the damages with your insurance policy. In this incident your insurance company is not going to pay for damages caused by a pipe located off of your property or underground that does not belong to you. It is a hard pill to swallow and with over 30 years in the insurance industy I can recall many examples of incidents similar to yours where people thought it was not their fault… problem is that in many cases it is no ones fault and it is true that one can at a cost provide protection from any incident, like a flood, land slide or even land subsistance… just another cost of owing a home. The key word is “Neglegence” and then the money spent on a legal claim is good money spent, but in this case it would be difficult to prove that the DOS could ever prevent an underground pipe from bursting…just wait around until the next earthquake. This is one of the main reasons that zoning and building codes are constantly changing and being upgraded soas to protect property owners from the unforeseen. Hope this makes you feel better.
Don Patrick says
Just an additional comment, Insurance is not a fund to pay for resulting damage that can be prevented. Good time for homeowners to read “the exclusions portion of your policies”. If Insurance paid for all the incidents that could be prevented by a little common sense our premiums would be in the thousands and there would be a riot by those that do protect their property…believe it or not, many owners spend big bucks to prevent damages to their homes. A little investigation when building a home or even buying an older home would make one aware of what they can expect down the road….please do not depend on the seller, may be the reason the place is for sale. Drive ways sloping to your garage or home are a real hazard…how many have barriers or super drains to carry the flow of water to a storm drain or drain pit away from the dwelling… if this happens, surface water damage is not a covered peril in most cases. Just how many homeowners know that “continuous leaking and seepage is not an insured peril under any policy….unless you cheat”. ? Just plain poor housekeeping. The mould will tell the Insurance adjuster when the problem started… and maybe a little dry rot will add to the conclusion. Time to start looking after our selves a little better, some things just cannot be bought.
congrstulationsDiane Sherlock says
So sorry.i feel you should have been compensated
Scott says
Don Patrick……I have also worked in the insurance industry ( thankfully not as long as you and thankfully no longer 🙂 ) and I’m not so sure about your reference to this incident being an ‘act of god’ classified event. Firstly the ‘act of god’ clause is no longer used as much as it may have been in the past for Home and Contents Insurance as we can usually purchase coverage for things such as storm, earthquake, flood etc etc. Secondly, ‘act of god’ is by definition ‘An event that directly and exclusively results from the occurrence of natural causes that could not have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or caution; an inevitable accident ‘ A waterpipe, regardless of its composition, has a operational lifespan that can be determined to a certain extent. Suffice to say, pipes need to be replaced or repaired over their lifetime. If the DOS is allowing its infrastructure to crumble then there has to be some liability on their part when issues like this arise. Of course this is of no help when the DOS and its insurers deny liability as it will inevitably lead to costs such as those faced by Mr Singh. On the other hand, the first North American policy booklet that I was able to google did seem to cover the ” Escape of water from any domestic appliance and fixed water installations or from the services extending to or from your home” ( Halifax General Insurance). Im not clear as to whether this burst pipe was leading to Mr Singhs home but if it was then i believe that this policy would have covered him ( unless the pipe burst due to a land subsidence or heave of the land). Anyway, not knowing what, if any insurance Mr Singh had, I honestly believe that there has to be some negligence/liability on the part of the DOS for an event like this. It sucks to be Mr Singh in this case because it seems that everyone is screwing him over !
Scott says
Note to the reporter….has any follow up investigation taken place with the owners of the other properties that suffered water damaged ( flooded basements etc). Did any of their insurers offer indemnity ?
Gagandeep Ghuman says
That is certainly a question worth asking. I will try to do that in the coming weeks.
Squampton says
You got the wrong colour, Guncha…If you were you-know-what colour, you would have had a spanky new driveway, all paid for by the district…Get used to it…sorry !
MichaelL65 says
It’s about time the DOS took responsibility for the crumbling infrastructure in this town. Guncha, sue this damn council for all they are worth. Their damn pipe burst ruining your driveway, they need to take responsibility! It’s about time we infrastructure that works in this damn town!
Marie Grindlay says
Squampton…. Really!?!! What year are we living in that we are still surrounded by such bigots. It has nothing to do with color, it has everything to do with our District not taking responsibility where they should. I feel sorry that you have such a narrow minded attitude. Not to mention hiding behind a made up name. Bigots are such cowards.
Don Patrick says
Scott… I used the word “was’ in the “Act of God” statement, but the general reasoning is still used in the industry. Yes, you can blame the early deterioration of the water pipes on the DOS and then to the manufacture and even to the installation contractor… seems to me to be a great legal challenge, does the claiment want to take such a chance on losing the case and having to pay multi-thousand in expenses and legal fees ? Seems to me that as we get a chance to live a long and interesting life more experiences are provided to confirm our conclusions as to why our standard of living is so costly. Maybe the DOS should have a contingent fund for these types of incidents…sort of like the condo unit owners should have had for the last thirty years for the depreciation of their underground property services and probably others think that the DOS should show us how to protect our property at no cost. It is only money and of course there is an unlimited supply. (tilt). Are you a lawyer Scott ?
Scott says
Hi Don,
I’ll answer your last question first. Am I a lawyer ? Good god, no ! I like the few friends I have so please dont go around asking questions or casting such aspersions ! I have a reputation to uphold ! 😉
Moving on, and on a more serious note, please dont misconstrue my previous comments as a deliberate slight on your views/comments re this topic. You did actually state “this is, or was referred to as an act of god” and I was merely commenting that I was not of the same opinion.
Legal liability claims are very rarely straight forward. I know this from years working for a Risk Consulting and Broking firm in Australia where I managed a team which was comprised of lawyers and consultants who were responsible for handling self insured and ‘below deductible’ liability claims for large organisations such as Sydney Water (quite apt considering the topic), Westfield Shopping Centres, Rail Infrastructure Corporation, Tyco as well as some large government organisations. The deductibles on many of the policies were above $1million so they were by no means small claims. The states of NSW and QLD in Australia rank only slightly behind the state of California as the most litigeous in the world (per capita) so as you can well imagine there were a lot of claims.
Don you were quite correct in stating that Mr Singh could try to mount a legal challenge re issues of liability and that in the end it would cost him a lot of money. Considering the many articles available from the local media (and the Districts own actions/statements) relating to the DoS’s need to for increased taxes in order to rectify neglected and poorly maintained infrastructure I think Mr Singh would have some good ammunition. However, according to the article, he already has gone down this path and has now ceased as it was starting to become too costly.
Denying liability is easy, especially in cases like this. Whilst there may actuallly be some liability on the part of the District, it is much easier to say “sorry, not our fault” with the full knowledge that the claimant wont have the financial resources nor the unrelenting will to fight this battle 24/7 for the next months/years. However, sending what was more than likely a form letter to him claiming that he had not taken reasonable action to prevent damage to his property from flooding is just plain cruel and insulting. What could he have done to protect his driveway ? My opinion ? The DoS should offer some financial assistance to Mr Singh without admission of liability. It would be a decent, responsible action to take ( however, I do understand that this is an unrealistic expectation).
On another note, whilst I detect some sarcasm in your comment, maybe the DoS should actually have a contingency fund for matters such as this. Condo/Building Stratas do. Its called a ‘sinking fund’.
Don Patrick says
Well Scott, you are a thinking man and that gives me a good feeling. I was not involved with the big guys, my experience was in this valley. After a stint in the Aircraft industry as an engineer it was time for a change… the change was the best time of my life and Squamish has never been a bad place to live….especially for those from other countries. I just want to make sure you know where I am coming from, we have a standard of living based on a lot of things being done for the dollars available and if everything becomes someone elses fault, the standard is coming down… period Cheers Over & Out.