Mother Nature blew up my budget...

[humandraydel]

We got hit by a storm a couple of days ago and I guess my cable line got hit with lightning - I heard a loud pop and the ethernet cable attached to the cable modem is blackened.

Total damage is 2 computers fried and the HDMI ports on the TV are gone (which basically makes the TV worthless) - replacement costs will probably be ~$3k. Not sure what I'm going to do about it...maybe go without TV for a year or two. I can afford it, but I don't really want to.

What would you do? Do you consider it EF worthy?

[HappySaver]

Computer and internet yes. TV no.

[wjcalderon]

The first thing I would do is contact my homeowner's insurance company.

[disneysteve]

The first thing I would do is contact my homeowner's insurance company.

Be very careful about this. I would not file a claim for a $3,000 loss, especially if I had an EF to cover it.

Most homeowner's policies have a rule that if you file 2 claims in 5 years, they cancel your policy. The amount of the claims is irrelevant. Just having a claim puts you in a higher risk pool.

I would go out and buy a cheap computer or two. I just bought my mom a new laptop at Best Buy last week for $280+tax. And you can certainly get a TV for under $200. So for under $1,000, you can be up and running again. No way I'd file a claim for that.

[autoxer]

Is the cable modem rented? You might want to talk to your cable company to see if they can help.

And make sure you buy a surge protector!

[bjl584]

If everything was plugged into a surge protector, then I'd call the manufacturer of the device. They usually offer some form of insurance for fried electronics that were plugged into their devices. It's worth a try.

[maryadavies]

First off with the modem; Contact your ISP ASAP. They may be able to help you with that. (Most modems far as I know are rented from ISPs and they may have some allowance for weather related problems.)

With the computers, I was able to get a very nice gamer system for about $900 b/c it's a custom build (it's proly a $2k system off the shelf; I just had to pay for parts and the op system; since my brother built it for a kiss, that's saving money). So yeah, if you only use one for web browsing and word processing, not games, you can prolly get one off the shelf for much less (100-300 bucks) to get yourself running. I'd do it even if I was a gamer in your case; you can always save up for parts and get a gamer pc later from a local shop for less than you'd pay for one at a store.

TV..well, you can get a decent one for cheap, esp if you watch sales. So keep your eyes open.

After you rep the electronics I STRONGLY suggest you replace the surge protector on those. Surge protectors might be something most of us do not think about, but it's better not to skimp on that, for it can save your electronics. I wouldn't recommend you get a UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) unless you work from home or something where a few more minutes to save what you are doing is important when the power blinks, but for heaven's sake, get a good quality surge protector for your electronic gear. Your wallet will thank you if this happens again.

[ua_guy]

This is definitely a prescription for using surge protectors in the future. Everything that is physically connected to "the grid" (phone, cable, electricity) is at risk of surges.

Electronics connected to the grid are also vulnerable to dirty power and brownouts (low voltage) too. Surge protection doesn't really do anything for that, except trip at a maximum threshold for input. UPS' do, though. They scrub the power to apply the correct output voltage or augment using the battery. UPS' are very cheap these days and also provide surge protection and clean power to sensitive electronics. Plus, having the backup power is great.

If you're like us and have a laptop or portable phones, the cable modem and wireless router both stay powered in the event of an outage because they are connected to the UPS. That way we're still able to surf the web via wireless. The UPS will power the modem/router for hours and hours.

Ditto on not contacting your Homeowner's insurance. I don't know what your deductible is, but if it's a few hundred bucks, I'd probably go ahead and just replace the computer and related equipment out of pocket. I can't say for the TV. If yours was really nice, I'd see if it was covered elsewhere, or maybe save up for a new one over time.