Spa damaged by lightning, insurance help?

Question

I thought, and still do, think my spa is grounded. It was installed by a licensed electrician. Had a terrible lightning storm and now can't get anything to turn on, switched the breakers and all that but no luck. Does insurance usually cover this or should I have taken out an additional coverage for this along? Thanks.

Answer 1

grounding has nothing to do with protection from lightening...and while we're at it neither does a surge protector.  Lightening strike will pretty much blow out any appliance it hits.

Your homeowners should protect against a lightening strike.  It probably blew your board.

Answer 2

Well, is it indoors or outdoors? Is it built in, to an adjacent structure, or detatched?  

First, you need to determine if it's covered as building or contents, and if it's indoor or outdoor.  Then you can figure out which policy language applies.

Why does it matter, you ask?  Well, because on the standard homeowners policy (HO3 form) for the building, it's up to the insurance company to show that the cause of loss is NOT covered, but it's up to the homeowner, for contents, to show that the cause of loss IS covered.

You don't seem to have any obvious scorch marks, so we're trying to figure out if it's a power surge, or a lightening strike, or just a coincidental malfunction.

It's pretty probable they'll send a spa guy out to look at the circuit.  He'll say, oh, yes, this was lightening or power surge (don't let him take the part that was damaged!  You'll need it for the adjuster!) or not.

If it is lightening damage, it will be covered.  Power surge, well, the policy won't cover damage to a tube, transistor or similar component.  And, of course, the entire claim will be subject to your policy deductible.

Your agent should be able to give you some customized advice, if they're open tomorrow.

Answer 3

Insurance does cover lighting strikes.

But, before you call in a claim - do 2 things.

1. have a repair person check the spa and confirm that it is lighting damage.

2. if it is lighting damage, have the repair person give you a quote to repair the damage and have him put on the quote that it was lighting damage.

Then turn in the claim.  

The reason is: your deductible will apply. So if you have a 500 deductible and it will be 400 to fix the spa, then the insurance company will not pay. So, no use in turning in a claim. Even if the company does not pay, your record still shows a claim.

So, make sure that the cause of the damage is lighting and that the cost to repair will exceed your deductible.  

Besides that, if you call in a claim, your adjuster is going to tell you to do that anyway. So, you might as well do it on the front end. That way you can give the quote w/ confirmation of lighting damage to the adjuster when they come out to take a photo of the spa.