Though it may not be a common occurrence, power lines falling in the wintertime can happen and cause considerable damage to your home.
More importantly, while your homeowners insurance policy will handle any physical damage sustained, downed electrical lines can be deadly to people and animals, so they must be handled in the right way.
Homeowners insurance agencies stress the need to immediately get qualified help to deal with the problem and worry about home damage later.
What Causes Fallen Power Lines In Winter?
There are two main reasons why a power line might fall on property including house and create a dangerous situation and cause home damage that will require a call to your homeowners insurance company:
- Falling Trees - Whether pushed over by heavy winds or weighed down by ice in an ice storm, a tree that falls on or near a house can very easily pull down power lines with it.
- Ice-Covered Lines - Power lines that get weighed down with ice during an ice storm can sometimes droop low enough to touch the ground or even get pulled down off the electrical poles.
What Should Be Done First?
When there are power lines down in your yard or pulled onto your house by a tree, the first thing to do is make a call to the utility company’s emergency line to alert them to the issue.
Someone will come to turn off power to your home or even the whole street if necessary to eliminate the dangerous risk of electrocution, then technicians will be sent to make repairs to the lines and restore power.
In the meantime, keep everyone away from the fallen lines and do not try to do anything.
Don't worry about assessing home damage or calling your homeowners insurance agency until the utility company has come out and dealt with the downed power lines.
What About Your House?
If a tree fell on your house with the downed power lines, call your homeowners insurance agent to alert them to the problem and that the utility company has been called out to fix the power lines.
Once the utility issue has been handled, speak with your agent about the removal of the tree and home repairs that fall within the scope of your home insurance policy.
If the damage is severe enough and the house must be vacated while it gets repaired, many homeowner policies cover the cost of having to live elsewhere for a while.
Whether or not there is physical damage to your home, home owners insurance may also cover additional damages due to your power going out for an extended period of time while the lines were being repaired.
Discuss this with your insurance agency to find out what damages are covered in this instance because if there is coverage for electrical outages, it may cover any food that spoiled because the refrigerator was off, water damage due to pipes freezing, and other types of physical damage.
If the power lines falling caused a power surge, your policy may also cover home electronic devices that were damaged as a result.
Fallen Power Lines Are Dangerous And Destructive
If wind or bad weather causes power lines to fall on or near your home this winter, the first critical step to take is to call the utility company to report it and remain safe, preferable away from those power lines.
Home damage caused by falling trees or power lines themselves is covered by most homeowners insurance policies.
Depending on any ;additional coverage provided by your insurance policy, even things like spoiled food in refrigerators may be covered if the power stays out for a while.
Call your homeowners insurance agent once everyone is safe and report what has happened and let them take it from there!
