Is lightning damage covered by home insurance?

Indirect lightning strike

If lightning strikes a home or building near your house, it can cause damage to your electrical appliances. A lightning strike causes a surge in the power grid. This high voltage can also enter your home through underground wires and cables. The sudden surge in voltage can be too much for the connected devices, causing them to break. In these cases, it is referred to as an indirect lightning strike.

Many insurers refer to damage caused by indirect lightning strikes as “induction damage.” The devices exhibit numerous malfunctions or stop working entirely. Often, there are few or no visible signs of a lightning strike. This makes it difficult for an insurer to determine whether the equipment was damaged by a lightning strike.

Preventing Lightning Strikes

To prevent damage from lightning strikes, follow the tips below:

• Unplug all electrical appliances from the outlets and turn off the main circuit breaker. Don't forget the internet and TV cables.
• Especially for single-family homes, it’s a good idea to install a lightning rod on the house (or have one installed).
• Make sure you have adequate surge protection. This will help prevent damage to your electrical appliances.

Other Damages

Thunderstorms are often accompanied by heavy rainfall, and winds can also become very strong or even reach storm levels. This may result in storm damage to their home.
Storm damage is, of course, annoying enough as it is. You’ll want the damage caused by the storm to be repaired as quickly as possible. With home insurance, you pay a deductible for storm damage before you receive compensation. This amount is usually €150. You can choose to increase or decrease this amount yourself.

The terms and conditions of your home insurance policy specify exactly which types of damage are covered in the event of a lightning strike.

Are you insured through Alpina? You can file a claim online or contact us by phone.