Can I Claim Damages from a Power Surge?

luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 20:32

One of the hot weather power surges knocked out my computers psu's today as i'm sure happened to a few in this weather. (Never happened before and i'd asked my friends what causes them earlier that day, massive jinx)

Comp was on a power surge protector board and the breaker tripped when it happened but it still fried it anyways, room still has that ozone smell to it. I had a spare psu and luckily nothing else was damaged aside from the psu so that's good.

It was a pretty deceit out of warranty psu that i feel died before its time, A friend seems to think that power companies will pay some damages if it was a fault caused by them but i cant seem to find any Australian results in regards to claiming something like that. Is this even a thing?, or is that something you'd need home insurance for or something.

Home & Garden

Comments

  • wizzy on 25/01/2019 - 20:35

    I would be surprised if a power company would pay you compensation money. Can you prove that the power surge was the cause? That would be the first of many problems in getting them to pay.

    • luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 20:37
      +1

      I figured if you can give them the time it occurred and they could check what caused the fault and what sort of power it sent out, they'd honor it. But i guess it would be my word against theirs

      • wizzy on 25/01/2019 - 20:40

        Give it a go, it might work. In my experience power companies are not easy to deal with.

        • luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 20:44

          Managed to find a page for claiming items, excerpt on their website

          "We are not automatically responsible for outages on our network as a number of external factors can impact your supply. Common examples include:

          Weather (storms, wind, extreme heat)"

          Looks like they're already covering their asses, i guess i'll just find myself lucky my psu/breakers died before it could damage anything else

          • AdosHouse on 25/01/2019 - 22:02

            @luminousfox: That says for outages, can't really blame them for an outage out of their control like a person driving into a power pole.

            • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:36
              +1

              @AdosHouse: Yup. Its the same clause as in most insurance policies. "Act of god"…. i guess extreme weather would come under acts of god. haha

              • AdosHouse on 25/01/2019 - 23:13

                @lplau: It's act of God unless negligence is proven. But good luck proving that.

              • jhmtaylor on 29/01/2019 - 14:21

                @lplau: FYI you will not find the term " Act of god" in any modern domestic insurance policy. Whilst it still appears in some Lloyds of London contracts, the phrase was hasn't been used by local insurers since "plain English" contracts came into use more than 25 years. The reason why the term was dropped is because it can't be clearly defined.

      • Chris Topher on 26/01/2019 - 17:30

        No guessing needed. If you can pinpoint date and time and their logs match… kaching!

  • HighAndDry on 25/01/2019 - 20:36
    +1

    Caveat that this is from 1998 and so may not be up to date, but:

    https://www.accc.gov.au/media-release/accc-gets-compensation…

    The ACCC considers that the industry is liable for damage caused by power surges and power brownouts (the opposite of a surge - when there is a reduction in voltage to below normal levels).

  • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2019 - 20:38

    Do look into it, as I think they also pay compensation if there is a prolonged outage for fridge contents etc.

    • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:35

      Only payable if the appliance storing the food (e.g. fridge) was damaged during the power surge.

  • chumlee on 25/01/2019 - 20:40

    They will if you strongly push your case

  • tabz on 25/01/2019 - 20:41
    +3

    Which surge protector were you using? Some companies offer cover for some equipment damage.

    • luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 20:53

      Unfortunately the one i was using didn't have that offering. I'm moving rooms and my usual Belkin insured one was packed up (altho its about 10 years old and from dick smith so i doubt it would have been honored either)

      • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:33
        +2

        If its Belkin, then you could claim directly with them, even if Dicky has gone limp.

  • [Deactivated] on 25/01/2019 - 22:16

    I think you have this backwards. The PSU probably failed because of the heat which caused the breaker to trip.

    • luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 22:29

      Maybe they should send me the bill cause it knocked out most of the street too

      • [Deactivated] on 26/01/2019 - 00:17
        +2

        you didn't say that in your post.

  • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:32
    +1

    Are you sure it was a hot weather power surge? Did your neighbors lose power also?
    If your neighbors didn't lose power and it was only you, then it would have been something within the house which triggered the breaker.

    Anyways, if you truly think that it was external power surge, then you can contact the distributor:
    https://www.unitedenergy.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/C…

    Read the fact sheet, it would come under: 'unauthorised voltage variation'. Note that they pay out according to depreciation, e.g. old for old, not old for new.

    • luminousfox on 25/01/2019 - 22:39

      It was for most of the street, city power guys were up on their ladders and everything trying to fix it. I've checked out the form and they seem to cover their ass for everything and found some posts on whirlpool saying its a waste of time so i'll just cut my losses

      • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:40

        Call them directly and ask them to pay up. If they don't then say you will open a ombudsman case…. they often cave in at that point, since any ombudsman cases opened against them, a fee is automatically imposed on that company (this fee cannot be passed onto the customer even if the result was in favor of the company).

  • altomic on 25/01/2019 - 22:35

    What did the power company say when you asked them?

    • juventino on 26/01/2019 - 00:08
      -1

      they said to refer to the collective wisdom of Ozbargain. Like usual.

  • lplau on 25/01/2019 - 22:38

    Depending on how much money you are looking to them to compensate, there is a way which you could maybe "force" them to pay you even if it is against policy.

    If they say no, and cite policy, you can say "thats ok, i open a case with the energy ombudsman", then they will usually cave, since every ombudsman case opened against them costs up to $150. https://www.ewov.com.au/

    Often the company would cut their losses and say "its good will"

  • Rescue 26 on 26/01/2019 - 07:04
    +1

    Have you tried contents insurance? I've claimed 2-3 times on router/modem destroyed by lightning strikes in the vicinity, which I guess caused power surges. Insurance company paid in full each time.

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