Can a nearby lightning strike knock out the neutral phase in a house power meter and cause damage ?

Question

During a thunderstorm we experienced a bright flash in our home resulting in dimming/brightening of lights, tv and computer in almost strobelike effect. We killed the power to our house. Our electrician told us we had lost a phase. The power company confirmed we lost the neutral phase in our power meter. The power company supervisor claimed the loss of power was from a break in the line and the thunderstorm was coincidental. However, the power company spent 4 hours with 4 men looking for a break and never found one. We lost numerous appliances that have to be repaired or replaced at a substancial cost. How should we proceed? Does the power company have any liablity? Is this a homeowner's claim?

Answer 1

The lightning could have (and probably did) caused the problem. I have no idea why the power company is stonewalling.

knocking out (opening) the neutral wire is one thing, knocking out a phase is something different.  "neutral phase" is meaningless.

Have they fixed the problem? sounds like they didn't. You need to get it repaired.

It's an "act of god" so call your insurance company.