Did you know that Florida is the lightning capital of the United States? The linked article has some interesting information on that, but my point is that as agents in Florida, we need to point out to our clients that they should have protection for their electronic equipment and their homes. We have lightning strikes, power surges, momentary brownouts - all things that can cause havoc with our computers, digital clocks, etc. Having a UPS for our computer equipment is mandatory. The local power company has protectors they can put on the lines to your house.
We purchased a system that attached to the power where it enters the house, from a local company called Ditek. It wasn't too expensive and was installed by a local electrician (I actually heard about the system when the electrician was doing some repair work on a house I had listed). It was there on our house, forgotten, for years. Then one morning we had an early morning runner ring our doorbell (waking us up) and telling us that he saw and smelled smoke from the side of our house. We also noticed that the power was off. When we went out to check, we saw a large char mark going up the side of the house from the Ditek box. We called Ditek, they sent out an electrician who confirmed that lightning had struck (or one Heck of a Surge). Ditek manufacturer a new box that was customized for our home, and had it made and installed by the next day. How can you beat that for service? Well - there was NO COST for the equipment or labor, as Ditek had guaranteed it for life.
When the power came back on - there were absolutely no problems with all of my computer equipment, and nothing in the house was damaged! The surge protection system had handled everything. You can be sure we tell our clients about that option.
Our local power company will install a whole house surge protector on their meter for 45 bucks.
We have one of them as well as additional surge protectors on our computers and electronics.
The 45 dollar deal is probably their best value.
I checked with our electric company about the whole house
protectors after we were hit by lightning. They are good but would not have helped in my situation. We had lightning strike a tree in our back yard. The electricity went thru the ground in to our furnace outside and in thru the wires to our bedroom where it proceeded to blow out everything.
The whole house protectors only help if the surge comes in through the outside wire into the home electrical box.
Smart lady. I installed surge protectors on each of the electrical panels when I moved into my new house this summer. I also have surge protectors throughout the house.
I believe on insurance policies on insurance policies.