Thread: Is buying electrical surge protection insurance for my appliances worth it?

For $10.95 and tax a month, my utility company is offering to to insure me against electric surges frying my appliances. Is it worth it?

I would be protecting a fridge, oven, central aircon for a 1-bedroom apt, a couple of TVs, computer, and dvd players.

I've never lost an appliance due to an electrical surge, but out of caution, I have always disconnected my computer and tv/dvd connections, and have full time surge protection on my computer.

Look at replacement cost; AC compressor units can run a pretty penny to replace. Weigh up those expenses against the inconvenience of not having the thing.

how would you prove the equipment failed due to 'electrical surge'?
in 50 years I've had a modem fail due to close lightning strike.
that's $15 in 50 years.

insurance is usually a scam, i don't have any if its not required by law

Why not buy surge protectors instead? Most likely you will never succeed at collecting money from this insurance, most likely you will never even need it. Even if you do end up needing it, they will almost certainly take in more from you than they pay out.

The people starting such a business are guaranteed to be born without the part of the brain responsible for morality. They saw an opportunity to drum up fear and they prey on it for their own personal gain.

Surge can kills chips, but even worse is under voltage (brown out) that will kill electric motors, can start fires, and is a liability on the power company for not supplying proper voltage as contracted to do so.

Surges are from sudden demand stops from large machinery and is usually isolated to anything on the same transformer, unless it's a lightning strike, then it's who knows what and where the damage will occur, due to the unpredictability of such high voltage.

I recommend hardwire lightning protection over any other form of protection. I live with a high iron oar content in the soil, lightning strikes are common, I was indirectly "lit" using a drill press during a storm. If you install your own lightning rods, one thing must be followed, no sharp bends in the ground wire, lightning cannot negotiate sharp corners and has been known to arch at bends and find a new path to ground, sometimes that means through the wood structure and into the electrical or pluming anywhere in the house.

Getting bit once was enough for me!

My brother's house was struck through the outdoor lighting and fried his well pump along with a couple breakers, including one fence post that exploded with the force of a bomb and left splinters embedded in another fence post over 6 ft. away, no human would have survived standing near it when it exploded with the force of 10 grenades.

Lightning rods are your friend, especially if you're standing on iron oar like me!

Problem with this post is it's an international forum, different laws, different risks, different insurance etc

But as Mr Walton said "insurance is usually a scam, I don't have any if its not required by law"

One of the first jobs I has when leaving school was selling electrical appliances in a shop. It was drilled into us from day one that the most important thing (after getting them to have a high interest store card) was to sell them an extended warranty on the item. I found out years later that the majority of the stores profit came from these 2 things.

You nailed it! Insurance "companies" are there to profit, not give away money for free!

My only real public liability is the automobile and the only policy I hold, I have no property insurance. The question is "why".

Fire insurance: The risk is too great that you could be prosecuted for arson after a legitimate accident, thereby loosing your premium, your property, and your freedom. Fire insurance is a no no. Let the Fire Martial find his quota somewhere else and go about his pensioned retirement working for the insurance companies as a witness expert.

The system is so corrupt, it's too corrupt, and only trusted by its minions and beneficiaries. All branches, all forms, all poison fruit from a positioned tree. R.I.P. Justice an liberty, tyranny is upon us at every juncture, thereby justifying every action and necessary measure we take.

My fire insurance is a hose reel in the basement that can reach throughout the house, and fire extinguishers on every floor with smoke detectors throughout the house and garage.

I was in a house fire in 1982 where there was loss of one life. (kids playing with matches in a closet early one morning at a friend's apartment building). That's the price for not having a fire drill, I've knocked down 3 gasoline fires here over the last two decades, each one would have gotten out of hand without fire suppression on hand.

Get at least one fire extinguisher (a big one), it could save someone's life and or prevent allot of misery, suffering, and poverty.

Originally Posted by MrWalton

how would you prove the equipment failed due to 'electrical surge'?

Bingo. It is the utility that has to provide records to prove or deny 'surges'. If the same utility is the insurance issuer they have a conflict of interests.
Besides, if the surge is the result of a thunderstorm, they might claim to be an "act of God", i. e. : they dont cover. Look at the small print...

I would look into the law to see if they are selling what they ard required to cover anyway... In my country I know people that received compensation from the utility from power surges - no insurance necessary.

I would set asside this money monthly. If the insurance companies make money on the probability that nothing will happen, so can you...

Thank you one and all for the great advice. You have my gratitude.

I'm leaning with taking my usual precautions of disconnecting things when I am out of town, surge protectors and power strips with fuses for the important stuff.

I've an extended warranty for the aircon/heater.

My building is surrounded by taller buildings, so I'm not worried about lightening strikes.