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An Oshawa woman has a warning for homeowners after Durham Region declined to cover $1,600 in plumbing costs caused by a city-owned tree.
Bev Fiddler says the region is applying its bylaw unfairly, punishing her and her husband for acting quickly early this year to fix damage they didn’t cause.
“There is no room for flexibility or no room to at least hear the homeowner’s position,” she said.
Fiddler was doing laundry in her basement around 8:30 p.m. on Jan. 3, when she noticed the sink wasn’t draining. Her husband tried to use a plunger, but they saw the water that returned had raw sewage in it.
They then noticed water “spilling out” from the sealed water main drain in their basement’s electrical room, she says.
“It was coming out quickly and it was like it’s going to start flooding,” she said.
The couple used towels to mop the water, then called an emergency plumbing service. The plumber removed the water main seal and found a “massive tree root” blocking the water main and causing the damage, she says.
According to Fiddler, the plumber told them that the tree responsible, about nine metres from their house, was the City of Oshawa’s responsibility.
The city’s bylaw says the region will clean sewer services, including unblocking, but if a person does the cleaning themselves or hires someone to do it “without the region’s authorization … there will be no reimbursement.”
‘This was not our fault’
After paying the plumber, Fiddler contacted the city, which said it would cover the seal in the watermain to prevent further damage. That was done within two weeks, she says.
The city also advised her she could submit a claim to get reimbursed for the plumbing services on the region’s website, she says.
But by July, Fiddler says she still hadn’t heard back from the region. When she followed up, the region told her they declined to reimburse her on Jan. 27 — though Fiddler says she didn’t get that email.
That denial was the first time Fiddler learned about the region’s bylaw, she says.
She was also told by the region her only option to appeal the decision was to go to court, which she says would cost her thousands more in legal fees.
“I was upset, I was furious,” she said. “I said, this was not our fault, we did not cause that problem.”
“And the response was: You didn’t call the region first to see if you could call the plumber.”
Because the backup happened on a Friday night, Fiddler said she didn’t know what her options were. She says she acted fast to protect her house from property damage, particularly since the leak was happening in the electrical room.
Durham Region told CBC News that when a sewage back-up occurs, “residents need to contact the region to inspect.”
The region also has after-hours emergency services for basement flooding on its website.
Repairs made to prevent further damage: region
After the region declined her claim, Fiddler asked the City of Oshawa to remove the tree to prevent further problems. Staff did come out to her home in August, but said they couldn’t remove it since it was not damaged or diseased.
Last week, they returned to trim the exposed tree roots, she said.
The Salvation Army is ending a rental housing program that supported hundreds of people in the Durham Region, after funding was cut earlier this year. As CBC’s Christian D’Avino explains, two landlords say the charity still owes them tens of thousands of dollars.
Durham Region told CBC News “to ensure that the repair was made and to help minimize the risk of further root infiltration, the Region’s contractor completed a re-lining of the sewer connection through the impacted area on February 24.”
Fiddler, who is now retired, says the plumbing costs could have been put towards other expenses — and not everyone in Oshawa would be able to afford the bill.
“It’s unfair to assume that everybody out there in this economy has emergency contingency funds to address everything,” she said.
Fiddler says she has also been in contact with city councillor Brian Nicholson, who represents Ward 5, where she lives. She says Nicholson told her he couldn’t speak to her about the matter since the file is “currently with staff.”
CBC News reached out to Nicholson for comment.
Still, Durham Region told CBC News Fiddler’s claim “remains closed” after it was denied.
In a public Facebook group for her ward, Nicholson appears to have written that last week regional staff “indicated … steps to address the water and sewer issues in the area are included in the upcoming 2026 Regional budget.”
The region told CBC News there are no related 2026 budget items at this time. It also said there were no other insurance claims submitted in Fiddler’s area.
