The damage caused by an electrical surge can be both devastating, and hidden. And unless you have people who know what they are looking for, it can go completely unknown and can lead to real risks like fires. Just this week, a jury in Philadelphia found in favor of the Plaintiff, represented by Anthony DiUlio, Connor Finucane, and Frank Hosking, against Erie Insurance Group, for surge damage that occurred to their home.
In January of 2022, a car crashed into a utility pole causing a surge to send excess electricity to the insured’s property. This electrical surge caused items plugged into outlets to have burn marks, the oven to malfunction, lights to flicker, and completely fried their water pump and others items in the home. While Erie recognized the surge happened and paid for these items that showed damage, no investigation was done to the wiring of the home to see what the surge did to the wiring of the property.
What the homeowner didn’t know, and Erie didn’t look into, was that an electrical surge can damage the wiring within your home. It actually overheats the wires and damages the casing, or the jacket, around the wires. This can be a big problem because as this insulation around the wires breaks down from the surge, it is more likely to arc and can cause fires. It also can cause issues within your home later on like dimming lights, error codes on appliances, and much more.
Luckily for this homeowner, Wheeler, DiUlio & Barnabei, P.C. were there to help. They brought in an electrician to do the proper testing (a megohmmeter test), find the related damage, and pursue the claim with Eire.
Erie disputed the claim and ultimately the claim was put on trial in front of a jury in Philadelphia, PA. The jury came back and awarded the entire amount demanded by WDB Legal for the damages caused by this surge, $186,251.78.
A surge can be so much worse that it appears on the surface. It is critical to have the proper testing done and to figure out how extensive the damage is. If your home has been subject to an electrical surge and your insurance hasn’t fully investigated or paid your claim, give us a call or email. It could be the difference between preventing a future fire and losing everything.
