Lightning almost hit my house, fried most of my electronics and AC

[George Cantstandya]

(09-12-2018, 03:52 PM)Wyche Wrote: Wow!  Glad you are ok my friend, and it didn't directly hit the house.  Sucks about the rest, but looks like your insurance will get you set back up.  Just lucky to not have the house burnt.

Thanks and yes I was lucky.  The local news last week said 6 houses in my area got hit by lightning and caught fire during the same storm.

As for updates on insurance.  They sent out people to check things.  It seems my HVAC was not totally fried and can be repaired, something about the flame sensor on the heater and circuit board.  Also they sent someone to check the garage door opener and electronics and the report was damaged beyond repair.  The total cost of repairing the HVAC and replacing the other items is below my $2500 deductible. So I'll be paying out of pocket. Fortunately before I bought the house I set money aside in the event I needed the money for repairs. I just wasn't expecting to have to dip in to those funds so soon as I bought the house last December.

One other thing that happened that I will mention as sort of an FYI in the event someone else here experiences a similar situation was related to my electrical.  A few of my GFI outlets seemed to have been damaged as well so I had an electrician come out. He replaced them but when he heard it was a lightning strike he asked me if my smoke alarms still worked.  I assumed they did because the light for all of them was still on. However, they are all connected so if one goes off it is supposed to make the others go off and that seems to have failed as they didn't do that during testing.  I would have never thought of that.  He also checked the water ground to the house because he said that could have been damaged as well.  I'd never even heard of that so would not have even known the check it. Fortunately it wasn't damaged.

So all in all this has been a bit stressful but nothing I can't deal with.  Mostly it has been a interesting learning experience although a costly one.  I have to say my insurance representative was awesome and extremely helpful during this whole process.  I'll be sure to write a nice letter to his supervisor when I get a chance over the next few days.