ORLANDO, Fla. – An Orlando couple says an equipment failure in their neighborhood sent a surge of electricity into their home and fried many of their appliances.
The company that handles claims for Duke Energy admitted Duke had an equipment failure, but the company says Duke is not liable for the losses.
Several homes were impacted but one took the brunt of the damage.
Lisa Nieves and her husband say they were outside when the electrical panel on the side of their home and other neighbors’ homes blew.
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“Loud booms, like boom, boom, boom, there were sparks, black smoke,” Nieves said.
When the smoke settled, she found the damage, she said.
“The stove is not working after the panel outside blew,” Nieves said in a video recording the damage.
Her stove was shot, and she lost two refrigerators, according to Nieves, one from the kitchen and one from the garage, along with all of the food that was inside.
She also lost her garage door opener and alarm system.
Nieves paid more than $5,000 for new appliances, another $200 for a new garage door opener, more than $400 on new ceiling fans, and another $460 on electrical repairs.
“We took from our retirement. We can’t live without those items. We were between a rock and a hard place,” she said.
It all started when the transformer that services her home failed and sent a surge into the electrical panel outside her home.
Nieves filed a claim with Duke and got a letter from Sedgewick Claims Management Services.
“Duke Energy technicians determined there was a failure of the transformer that serves your residence,” the letter states.
“The Duke Energy service regulations further provide that Duke is not liable for any loss or damage to a customer resulting from such a failure,” according to the letter.
“They could at least pay for the appliances that blew up,” Nieves said.
The power surge hit Kevin Simmonds’ home as well.
He lost his doorbell, alarm system, and oven, and his claim was denied too, according to Simmonds.
“It was disappointing, to say the least,” Simmonds said.
“It was obvious in talking with the technicians there was a failure of their equipment, and so I would ask that they would apply some reason and some common sense into this equation and try to do something to at least meet the homeowner halfway,” Simmonds told News 6.
“How do they get away with, ‘yeah our equipment failed. It blew out almost all your appliances, but that doesn’t matter, we’re not responsible,’” Nieves said.
Audrey Stasko with Duke corporate communications sent News 6 a statement, which reads in part,”...Unfortunately, a random and unforeseeable equipment failure occurred on our system and the company determined there was no negligence on the part of Duke Energy that could have caused or contributed to this equipment failure and subsequent damage to the property.”
Nieves still has not replaced the second refrigerator from her garage and her alarm system.
She says because of the cost, those will have to wait.
There are companies that sell surge protection plans.
Duke even sells them.
Stasko couldn’t say if these homeowners would have been covered if they had one of the plans, saying each claim is on a case-by-case basis.
This is not the first time this kind of thing has happened. News 6 covered a similar story several years ago, and a woman near Tampa emailed us recently saying something similar happened to her.
If you have had an experience, you’d like to share let us know. Email Lbolden@wkmg.com.
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