Power surge destroys appliances - who's liable?
b...@b.com
Sept 2003.
A rotten tree branch fell on a hi voltage power line, pushing
it onto a lo voltage line. That caused a power surge to zap
everyone for a mile down the line, destroying everything
plugged in, from light bulbs to big screen TVs.
It seems that the homeowners have to eat the cost. Niagara
Mohawk refused to pay for this "act of God". The home
insurance companies said that this wasn't covered. One of the
victims was a state rep and even he couldn't get satisfaction.
The one insurance that did pay was an extended service
agreement on a TV.
My question is, is this really definitely the homeowners'
responsibility?
I understand that in New York City, Con Ed has paid up in
similar cases.
Thanks.
Robert Bonomi
>This question is based on an occurrance in Hoosick Falls NY in
>Sept 2003.
>
>A rotten tree branch fell on a hi voltage power line, pushing
>it onto a lo voltage line. That caused a power surge to zap
>everyone for a mile down the line, destroying everything
>plugged in, from light bulbs to big screen TVs.
>
>It seems that the homeowners have to eat the cost. Niagara
>Mohawk refused to pay for this "act of God". The home
>insurance companies said that this wasn't covered. One of the
>victims was a state rep and even he couldn't get satisfaction.
>
>The one insurance that did pay was an extended service
>agreement on a TV.
>
>My question is, is this really definitely the homeowners'
>responsibility?
Yup. Been there, done that. Computer equipment was covered
by an express rider on the homeowner's policy. It paid.
Other stuff was -not- covered, the insurance didn't pay.
(I was lucky, didn't have much damaged other than computer gear.
and the computer stuff wasn't totally fried, was even 'sort-of'
operational, but not working right. Insurer surveyed situation
and said "replace it", apparently easier than trying to do repairs.
Next-door neighbor lost TVs, microwave, several small
kitchen appliances, and I'm not sure what all else.)
READ your insurance policy. There _is_ in all probability an 'Acts of God'
exclusion. What happened _was_ an 'act of God' occurrence.
It _is_ possible to buy 'all risks' insurance that will cover such a situation.
Paul Cassel
[tree falls on powerline causing widespread appliance damage]
>
> The one insurance that did pay was an extended service
> agreement on a TV.
>
> My question is, is this really definitely the homeowners'
> responsibility?
>
> I understand that in New York City, Con Ed has paid up in
> similar cases.
>
For someone to be 'responsible' you have to show that they acted in a
negligent manner. Nothing in your post says that the power company was
negligent in the way it handled itself. There is such a thing as 'acts
of God' like meteor strikes which can cause damage, but really aren't
caused by any act or lack or action on the part of anybody.
I'd think it unlikely to the extreme that the power company can be held
liable. I'm unsure about your homeowner's insurance. I'd read it
carefully and see if items like this are covered. For example, ask your
agent if your roof got holed by a meteor, would that be covered. I'd
think that if your house got hit by a falling branch especially not from
your tree, your insurance would cover it so maybe if a branch falling
indirectly damaged an appliance, you too are covered.
I can't comment on Con Edison. If the utility paid on a surge, maybe the
circumstances were such that the company did something wrong. What you
may try is calling Con Edison's Public Relations division to see if such
a thing really did happen and if so, what were the circumstances.
-paul
ianal
Horrigan
>may try is calling Con Edison's Public Relations division to see if such
>a thing really did happen and if so, what were the circumstances.
You can protect yourself by putting surge protectors on your power lines. Of
course, to totally protect yourself, you might have to spend more than the
value of your appliances.
The short answer is that the power company is only responsible up to a point.
They aren't expected to deliver perfectly clean power 100% (or even 99.999% of
the time, and if that is what you need, it is your reponsibilty to equip
yourself with the proper surge protectors, filters, backup power supplies,
etc.)
*****
Tim Horrigan <horr...@aol.com>
*****
Christopher C. Stacy
Horrigan> You can protect yourself by putting surge protectors on
Horrigan> The short answer is that the power company is only
Horrigan> responsible up to a point. They aren't expected to
Horrigan> deliver perfectly clean power 100% (or even 99.999% of
There's a difference between a minor flunctuation in the power
that the utility company gives you, which is never "clean",
and the equivalent of a lightning bolt.
Horrigan
>The short answer is that the power company is only responsible up to a point.
>They aren't expected to deliver perfectly clean power 100% (or even 99.999%
>of
>the time
The power company is a regulated monopoly (or quasi-monopoly) which operates
under a fairly detailed contract with state and local governments. The power
company is also regulated by laws and by the electrical code. There probably
are rules about what the power company is required to do to prevent power
surges. Those rules probably do not require them to prevent such surges 100%
of the time...
Robert E. Lewis
"Paul Cassel" <pa...@abq.com> wrote in message
news:lar9j09ih9db5r0vq...@4ax.com...
> b...@b.com wrote:
>
> [tree falls on powerline causing widespread appliance damage]
>
> >
> > The one insurance that did pay was an extended service
> > agreement on a TV.
> >
> > My question is, is this really definitely the homeowners'
> > responsibility?
> >
> > I understand that in New York City, Con Ed has paid up in
> > similar cases.
> >
>
> For someone to be 'responsible' you have to show that they acted in a
> negligent manner. Nothing in your post says that the power company was
> negligent in the way it handled itself. There is such a thing as 'acts
> of God' like meteor strikes which can cause damage, but really aren't
> caused by any act or lack or action on the part of anybody.
I'd be interested to know if the electric utility might be liable in my
situation:
Along the immediate coast, where I live, salt spray from the ocean builds up
on the insulators on the power poles, especially during summertime dry
conditions. When the humidity goes up, the damp salt crust allows an
electrical short, typically resulting in short (two - five seconds) power
interruptions. It's not unusual during the summer to have multiple longer
blackouts (after a long dry spell, a blackout is almost certain with a rain
shower), but it's the short on-off-on interruptions that are hard on
refrigerator and air conditioner compressors, and it's common to have four
or five such blackouts a day, several days a week for weeks at a time. The
arcing from the shorts is often visible at night and audible during the day,
and several times a summer we have longer blackouts when the arcing actually
catches the wooden power poles on fire (the utility was sued some years ago
when a pole that had already caught fire once had been patched instead of
replaced, the patch caught fire and the pole burned in two and fell,
electrocuting a firefighter investigating the fire).
The utility *could* take action to prevent the salt build-up -- they can
bring a tank truck with a pressure-washer and spray the insulators, wash off
the salt. I've seen them do this once in twenty years (a neighbor had the
local repair supervisor's home number and called him when we had a night of
a dozen outages). But that's a labor-intensive maintenance operation, and
unless it causes a major power outage or line failure, it doesn't cost the
utility company much to let it happen; it just costs the customers, in
frequently-failing appliances.
Is a normal localized environmental problem an 'Act of God' for which the
utility is not responsible?