Fulton County ends sewer line insurance deal

Complaints focused on company’s use of county logo.

After receiving complaints from residents, Fulton commissioners have terminated a contract that allowed an insurance company to use the county’s logo to sell policies.

Under the contract, HomeServe paid $100,000 for permission to use the Fulton County logo on mailers it sent to water and sewer customers. The letters sought to sell insurance policies on water and sewer line connections to customers’ homes.

The first rounds of letters had the Fulton County logo on the envelope, along with HomeServe’s name. After some complaints, the logo moved inside. Both versions of the letter said “Important Information Enclosed.”

The letters, which were sent quarterly beginning last summer, went to about 80,000 residents in Roswell, Johns Creek, Milton and Alpharetta.

After each mailing, the county received about 50 complaints, public works director David Clark said. Many were like Kevin Feckoury’s, an Alpharetta resident who wrote to say he thought the use of the county’s logo was “misleading” and that he wanted to make the county aware “of the activities of this company.”

Though Fulton County had authorized the partnership, residents were unsure whether the insurance product was required, Clark said, or whether the county was even aware that its logo was being used.

“After the second round of complaints, we met and decided the benefit we were getting wasn’t worth the concerns people were raising,” Clark said.

What were the benefits? In addition to the $100,000 payment, the county received a monthly commission on all policies sold. With an average monthly premium of about $6, and about 1,800 customers signing on, the county netted nearly $1,100 monthly.

Clark said the county had sought the partnership as a way to educate residents about the fact that they are responsible for any breaks or other problems on water or sewer lines between the meter and the house, even if they’re outside their homes. By selling insurance to cover the cost of any repairs, Clark said, he hoped residents would learn more about their responsibilities.

“We really wanted to educate the consumer about their responsibilities,” he said. “We do get a lot of calls about things that happen in people’s front yards.”

Clark said he had talked to HomeServe about continuing to send the mailers without the Fulton County logo, but the company declined. He expects the county will have to repay some portion of the contract. The county had just started the third year of a five-year deal when it terminated the contract Wednesday.

It was the first time the county had made such an agreement, but other local governments have similar advertising partnerships, Fulton County spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt said.