Covington Public Works Director Billy Bouchillon is warning the city's water customers to be wary of insurance solicitations that are being mailed to customers.

HomeServe USA Repair Management has been sending letters to Covington residents offering water line insurance to cover any damage that may occur to water lines on residents' properties. Residents can get $7,000 of annual coverage for $5 per month.

Bouchillon acknowledged that water lines that run on private property are the responsibility of the property owner, but he said the odds of those water lines being damaged is slim to none and the costs to repair damage are small.

"Seldom do people have a problem with the water lines that run from the street to their house. These offers are sent mainly to the elderly," Bouchillon said. "I can't see how it'd be worth it for anyone. If you had a 2-inch water line, I don't see a repair costing more than $200 max. Insurance for something that small isn't necessary."

Bouchillon said the insurance does not typically cover repairs inside of the home. He said Covington residents complained of similar offers several years ago.

HomeServe USA is based in Miami, while the parent company HomeServe is based in England.

According to FinancialTimes.com (http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/68e97bbc-02f9-11e1-b7be-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=rss#axzz1cafjGcFr), "Shares in Homeserve more than halved in value on Monday as investors responded to news that the domestic insurer and emergency repairs company had suspended all sales operations after discovering potential mis-selling of its insurance products."

The company, which describes itself as the "fifth emergency service," said all outbound sales and marketing activity had been suspended while staff are retrained," according to The Financial Times.