Lightning Strike

File the claim for everything, power up means nothing and a claims adjuster should know that. Otherwise, the adjuster is trying to rip you off. Be sure he understands that you will let him take all the units away. Let the adjuster pay for the 'electronics' disposal fee.

Contact them ASAP. ONly a written statement from the service center will be valid most of the time... and it must say it was due to lightening... not a power surge.

Such is my exp. Unless you have some other rider on your insurance coverage concerning power surges.

If the tech says lightening, I'd say you're good to go save for the deductible. Do mention the circumstances to the tech too... a couple times.

Good luck.

Add up your damage and make a judgment call about whether to file a claim - claims for lightning strikes can dramatically raise your premiums and it is often cheaper to pay out-of-pocket than to file a claim.

power up means nothing and a claims adjuster should know that. Otherwise, the adjuster is trying to rip you off.

Why? An insurance adjuster isn't an electician or electrical engineer. In any event, most policies cover the cost to repair or replace, whichever is less. You may have to get a statement from a qualified repair facility to prove the pieces are not repairable.

This is why,as I've stated several times,you should unplug your equipment during lightening storms.Mother Nature is a bitch and she will fry your electronics.Now the insurance war begins.Good luck and sorry for your loss.

Giglr, were the componenets on when the strike occurred? I had it happen once during the 80s and only components that were on suffered damage. Basically the pre-amp and tape player suffered damage. Everything that was off was ok and the TT and power amp were ok. I never got those two damaged pieces completely straightened out. They both still worked but the pre-amp would drop out a channel occasionally that would only be fixed by touching the rca inputs on the rear and the Teac tape player lost it's ability to retain tape calibration memory. The channel drop out was annoying. I eventually went mostly to CDs and didn't use the tape player but after sending both the pre-amp (and tape deck) in for repairs a few times, I bought another pre-amp of the same kind of ebay.
For the last 15 years I've lived in neighborhoods with the power lines underground and haven't really seen any power-surge issues. I'll unplug sometimes but mostly I just turn off the equipment when I see lightning.
I never tried going the insurance route with the damaged pieces but in retrospect I would have gone ahead and got rid of them and started new. The aggravation wasn't worth it attempting to get them repaired.

Nothing was on at the time of the strike, except maybe the ac. It cooked it too.

Initiating and substantiating a claim now regardless the time frame it takes to unearth all the intricacies and arrangements for repair or replacement should be done at once.

Simply ask your agent & carrier what is needed to satisfy or even actually be covered by your particular policy.... they have to tell you that info. then simply stay within the parameters of the claiming proceedure.

Some states prohibit ins co's from re-raising rates inordinately following a claim.

Given the investment of high end pieces, I installed a few power line items to help overcome just such instances. So far... they've done their jobs and the gear has been saved.

I also installed a direct same same replacement rider on my home owners insurance policy. Consequently, age of the thing is a non issue then. The only issue then is if the item is no longer being produced.... then it is simple cash value at the time i BOUGHT IT. Otherwise it is replaced by the current edition of it.

Personally, the investment in power line surge & spike protection is the simpler easier path.... as one is not always home to unplug everything. I'm quite grateful for the littel PS Audio & Running springs gizmos on hand now around here. They do work quite well on two fronts... power line nasties, and uh, yes, even lightening.... well so far anyhow.