Would you turn this into your insurance ?

[fastfredracing]

Let me preface this by saying that it is criminal that I pay this much money to the insurance man, and am afraid to make a claim because I know how they work .
My rates WILL go up , and most likely Ill end up with a non renewal .
We had bad storms all weekend . The power was on and off at my shop dozens of times Saturday .
When I got to work yesterday morning, my Snap on Scanner would not boot . The power light was stuck on , but no response . Snap on no longer repairs these units, so its a brick .
I had two different scanners plugged into the same power strip . It must have malfunctioned, becauase the other scanner was locked up, but a hard reset brought it back online .
A replacement will be 10k+
I have had zero claims in the past 5 years . None ever with this company . I just started towing though and I do not want to give them any reasons to jack my rates , especially if something else were to happen .
As always, I appreciate your wisdom

[fintstone]

I would look for independent repair service and not turn in the claim. The depreciated value of the scanner is probably not high.

[KFC911]

Insurance .... don't get me started .

Can you take the 10K as a loss against your income for the year, and somehow make it not as painful?

And insurance companies can just ...

Best to you Fred ..... good luck with this!

[908/930]

Is there a chance that your power supplier can be on the hook for this? If you can find others that in your area that have electronic problems from this storm you have a chance.

[fastfredracing]

Originally Posted by fintstone

I would look for independent repair service and not turn in the claim. The depreciated value of the scanner is probably not high.

This is most likely what I will do, or used on E bay . I am insured for replacement costs however . I probably pay extra for that . Bastages....

[Scott Douglas]

Might want to consider plugging them into a surge protector in the future.
I try to shut down our computers whenever there's a chance of lightning in the area, which isn't often here in SoCal.

[greglepore]

I would talk to your agent and get his view. 10k is a small claim by most standards, and with 5 yrs claim free likely no issue.

[drcoastline]

Check with your agent but sounds like a boiler and machinery claim to me. Do you have boiler and machinery coverage?

[LWJ]

DR is correct.

If you have coverage, please turn it in.

[Superman]

I see plenty of whiners who, I believe, are directing their complaints toward relatively efficient organizations they are told to hate. Government. Justice agencies. USPS. A motorcycle chain and sprocket was received by USPS in Minnesota on Monday, and delivered to a local Washington State post office last night to be delivered to me today. One day, from Minnesota to Washington State. I digress.

I think everyone hates insurance companies, and folks should complain about them more than they do. They are happy to receive our premium payments, and then provide disappointing service at claim time. It is a rare insurance company that would pay to bring your damaged 911 back to anywhere near its pre-collision condition.

Fred, if you are going to self-insure a $10K loss, and just eat that cost, then I wonder why you have insurance at all. What amount of damage would cause you to file a claim? I think you file a claim now, but I also do not have all the information. For example, if you pay $1K/month premiums and the policy is for seven figures, then $10K starts looking like a smaller number.

All my sensitive devices are powered through one of these gadgets. It plugs into the wall. Rated to 15 Amps. In the event of a power failure, a breaker is tripped in 25/1000ths of a second. It must then be manually reset. I leave those breakers open until the storm is past and the lights are no longer flickering. About $20.

[Arizona_928]

Power outage killed a turbo vac pump.

2k rebuild or 10k replacement.

Took the rebuild on that one.

[Zeke]

Supe, he probably has insurance in case the place burns down or the roof collapses. It's pretty much for the obvious and catastrophic. One might argue that electronics should be unplugged when there are "bad storms."

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Supe, he probably has insurance in case the place burns down or the roof collapses. It's pretty much for the obvious and catastrophic. One might argue that electronics should be unplugged when there are "bad storms."

Yep ... on all of the above. But I don't do the latter, and might have to "eat my words" and the loss some day. Which I would were I in Fred's situation too.... but that's just me.

[asphaltgambler]

Different opinion, from experience. It's very likely they won't cover this because it's a hand-held tool. Unless you have every tool listed in your shop with them and have specific coverage for that, you're out of luck. If you have tool specific insurance rider, they'll also likely to say it's an act of God / nature and not cover it. .......

[Superman]

Originally Posted by Zeke

Supe, he probably has insurance in case the place burns down or the roof collapses. It's pretty much for the obvious and catastrophic. One might argue that electronics should be unplugged when there are "bad storms."

Power outages are common here. We have lots of coniferous trees. When the wind blows, the branches fly. I like the plug in breaker solution because it is worry and maintenance free. I do nothing until the power goes out, and then I do nothing until the wind stops blowing, then I push a button.

Originally Posted by asphaltgambler

... it's a hand-held tool .......

Wait! If it is hand-held, then it is battery powered, right? If so, then a power surge would not have affected it. Even if it were recharging at the time of a power loss, the fault would be in the charging system and not the rest of the electronics. Probably, I simply don't understand what is happening here.

And I wonder if an electronics guy should take a crack at it. Often, those guys are smart.

[greglepore]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

This is most likely what I will do, or used on E bay . I am insured for replacement costs however . I probably pay extra for that . Bastages....

Is this the one you need?https://www.facebook.com/marketplace/item/235227972225006

[Zeke]

Originally Posted by Superman

And I wonder if an electronics guy should take a crack at it. Often, those guys are smart.

Addressing that, modern electronics are supposed to be pretty well protected internally. I doubt the fuses and diodes would survive lightening, but a surge, yes.

[Edit:] What I meant was that the internal fuse may be gone, but it blew in time. Dead unit but maybe not much to fix. If the damage got beyond that, you might not have the time to troubleshoot. However, many times it's something simple. A diode or relay. Just finding that rascal takes talent and experience. It's all so tiny now.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Scott Douglas

I try to shut down our computers whenever there's a chance of lightning in the area, which isn't often here in SoCal.

I bought a Universal Power Supply just in case.

Shut off breakers and wait 1/2hr for the grid to stabilize.
Appliances like refrigerators and motors commonly fail with low/fluctuating voltage.

[Tobra]

See if the stuff can be repaired at a reasonable price, if not, file the claim Fred

Originally Posted by Superman

Blah, blah, did not read OP but can't suppress the urge to be dismissive and pedantic.

I had two different scanners plugged into the same power strip . It must have malfunctioned

Power strips are almost invariably equipped with a breaker/overload switch. They are sold with a guarantee, that is probably about equal in value to the guarantee given by whatever product you seem to be peddling.

[fintstone]

Originally Posted by fastfredracing

This is most likely what I will do, or used on E bay . I am insured for replacement costs however . I probably pay extra for that . Bastages....

I think it would be difficult to show that lightning caused your issue if no other damage to the building/other equipment. It can probably be fixed for less than your deductible.

Few protection devices are quick enough to give you any protection...even if they seem to claim they are. Unless you are unplugged, there is always a risk to sensitive electronic equipment...even if turned off.