Water Main Breaks & Floods Your Missouri Home

I am asking this question because the scenario just happened to a friend of mine and her husband. If a water main breaks and floods your Missouri home, can you sue the city for damages? It's an unbelievably complicated and sad answer.

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Let me be clear. I am NOT a lawyer and do not give legal advice. Not even close. This was a case where a friend had a crisis and I did research.

Here's what happened just a few days ago that turned into a real crisis for a family I know. Water main broke in her neighborhood and she and her husband were left with 10's of thousands of dollars in damage.

As a homeowner myself, I immediately wondered what the process would be like if this happened to my home in Missouri. The answers are varied and complicated. On Avvo, someone asked an attorney this exact question and the answer included "Many times, cities are immune to lawsuits, this may not be one of those times...t they will still argue it."

Fox 2 in St. Louis also covered a veteran's home that was damaged by a city water main break. As of this writing, I can't find anything to indicate that this man ever got help for the damage that was done.

There is some hope, though. I found the Myers Law Firm website that says "most states won’t allow you to recover these types of damages from a city government", but they do say that it's not impossible if you can prove that it was city negligence that caused the damage.

The core issue with city water main breaks is sovereign immunity. The lawyer's site says that it's complicated and difficult, but not impossible to successfully sue a city for damages like this.

Again, I am not a lawyer. If you find yourself in this horrific situation, talk to a good lawyer who will direct you on how to move forward to get your home put back together. I hope your result is better than that of my friend and her family.