RangerTrace Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Having never dealt with this issue and wanting to come out of this as cheaply as possible, I'd like to hear if any of you have dealt with a similar issue and what you did to resolve it. Did it work? What would you do different if it happened again..... Yesterday afternoon, an Encore transformer went out behind my house. We have underground utilities and the equipment was dated 1983. It didn't go out immediately and when it started to malfunction, it sent various charges out to the users. The Encore Tech told me my meter was supposed to read 120/120, but it read 25/220. My lights were super bright and my ceiling fans sounded like chopper blades. Everybody on the block smelled a slight burning smell in their house. So, it appears we lost our garage door opener, clothes dryer, dish washer and fridge/freezer in the garage. Not to mention the large opening they had to cut in my privacy fence. I've already filed a claim with Encore for what I had discovered (which has already expanded). Should I wait for Encore to make thing right? Should I file an insurance claim? Should I have the items repaired/replaced and give the receipts to Encore? Thanks for taking the time to respond..... Trace Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 23, 2015 Author Share Posted July 23, 2015 FWIW, our losses were pretty minor compared to neighbors.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striped1 Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 It depends on the coverage you have with your carrier. The at fault carrier only owes actual cash value (replacement cost - depreciation based on age and condition) your policy likely covers replacement cost. The at fault party's carrier will only pay if they are or would be found negligent, ie, they did something wrong. Didn't maintain the transformer, didn't recognize the signs of impending failure, etc. See how they respond and then if you are not satisfied report a claim to your insurer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Having never dealt with this issue and wanting to come out of this as cheaply as possible, I'd like to hear if any of you have dealt with a similar issue and what you did to resolve it. Did it work? What would you do different if it happened again..... Yesterday afternoon, an Encore transformer went out behind my house. We have underground utilities and the equipment was dated 1983. It didn't go out immediately and when it started to malfunction, it sent various charges out to the users. The Encore Tech told me my meter was supposed to read 120/120, but it read 25/220. My lights were super bright and my ceiling fans sounded like chopper blades. Everybody on the block smelled a slight burning smell in their house. So, it appears we lost our garage door opener, clothes dryer, dish washer and fridge/freezer in the garage. Not to mention the large opening they had to cut in my privacy fence. I've already filed a claim with Encore for what I had discovered (which has already expanded). Should I wait for Encore to make thing right? Should I file an insurance claim? Should I have the items repaired/replaced and give the receipts to Encore? Thanks for taking the time to respond..... Trace File the claim with your insurance carrier and than that forces them to chase the other knothead to get their money and you are out of the loop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benos Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Best of luck dealing with that nightmare, Trace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterthefish Posted July 23, 2015 Share Posted July 23, 2015 Having never dealt with this issue and wanting to come out of this as cheaply as possible, I'd like to hear if any of you have dealt with a similar issue and what you did to resolve it. Did it work? What would you do different if it happened again..... Yesterday afternoon, an Encore transformer went out behind my house. We have underground utilities and the equipment was dated 1983. It didn't go out immediately and when it started to malfunction, it sent various charges out to the users. The Encore Tech told me my meter was supposed to read 120/120, but it read 25/220. My lights were super bright and my ceiling fans sounded like chopper blades. Everybody on the block smelled a slight burning smell in their house. So, it appears we lost our garage door opener, clothes dryer, dish washer and fridge/freezer in the garage. Not to mention the large opening they had to cut in my privacy fence. I've already filed a claim with Encore for what I had discovered (which has already expanded). Should I wait for Encore to make thing right? Should I file an insurance claim? Should I have the items repaired/replaced and give the receipts to Encore? Thanks for taking the time to respond..... Trace File the claim with your insurance carrier and than that forces them to chase the other knothead to get their money and you are out of the loop. This. File a claim against your homeowners policy and let them chase down Encore for reimbursement. They have teams that specialize in getting money back from at fault parties - you would likely spend a lot more time and get a much poorer result doing this on your own. The comment on ACV vs. RC is also spot on - Encore's liability is limited to ACV. If your appliances is 5 - 10 years old this is probably a fraction of the actual cost to replace them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reshoot Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Having never dealt with this issue and wanting to come out of this as cheaply as possible, I'd like to hear if any of you have dealt with a similar issue and what you did to resolve it. Did it work? What would you do different if it happened again..... Yesterday afternoon, an Encore transformer went out behind my house. We have underground utilities and the equipment was dated 1983. It didn't go out immediately and when it started to malfunction, it sent various charges out to the users. The Encore Tech told me my meter was supposed to read 120/120, but it read 25/220. My lights were super bright and my ceiling fans sounded like chopper blades. Everybody on the block smelled a slight burning smell in their house. So, it appears we lost our garage door opener, clothes dryer, dish washer and fridge/freezer in the garage. Not to mention the large opening they had to cut in my privacy fence. I've already filed a claim with Encore for what I had discovered (which has already expanded). Should I wait for Encore to make thing right? Should I file an insurance claim? Should I have the items repaired/replaced and give the receipts to Encore? Thanks for taking the time to respond..... Trace File the claim with your insurance carrier and than that forces them to chase the other knothead to get their money and you are out of the loop. This. File a claim against your homeowners policy and let them chase down Encore for reimbursement. They have teams that specialize in getting money back from at fault parties - you would likely spend a lot more time and get a much poorer result doing this on your own. The comment on ACV vs. RC is also spot on - Encore's liability is limited to ACV. If your appliances is 5 - 10 years old this is probably a fraction of the actual cost to replace them. What he said. Let your home owner carrier worry about reimbursement. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Encore called today and said they don't owe us anything. Our insurance deductible is 1% or about 3K... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterthefish Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 (edited) Encore called today and said they don't owe us anything. Our insurance deductible is 1% or about 3K...Few more questions:Had to look this up - are you referring to Oncor, the regulated TX utility? Or is this a transformer manufactured by a company named Encore? Utilities have a very limited liability to retail customers for fluctuations and outages. Oncors Tariff (found here: http://www.oncor.com/EN/Documents/About%20Oncor/Billing%20Rate%20Schedules/Tariff%20for%20Retail%20Delivery%20Service.pdf - page 48, sec 5.2.1) limits their liability - likely unless you can prove gross negligence in install or maintenance. "Company will not be liable for any damages, [...] unless it be shown that Company has not made reasonable provision to supply steady and continuous Delivery Service". I'm guessing the bar for "reasonable provision" is very low. The equipment manufacturer could also have some liability but it would probably be barred by the statute of repose for equipment that old... Sucks, but ask anyone who's had a sewer backup - it may be the utilities fault, but it's rarely their problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited July 24, 2015 by peterthefish Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Encore called today and said they don't owe us anything. Our insurance deductible is 1% or about 3K...Few more questions:Had to look this up - are you referring to Oncor, the regulated TX utility? Or is this a transformer manufactured by a company named Encore? Utilities have a very limited liability to retail customers for fluctuations and outages. Oncors Tariff (found here: http://www.oncor.com/EN/Documents/About%20Oncor/Billing%20Rate%20Schedules/Tariff%20for%20Retail%20Delivery%20Service.pdf - page 48, sec 5.2.1) limits their liability - likely unless you can prove gross negligence in install or maintenance. "Company will not be liable for any damages, [...] unless it be shown that Company has not made reasonable provision to supply steady and continuous Delivery Service". I'm guessing the bar for "reasonable provision" is very low. The equipment manufacturer could also have some liability but it would probably be barred by the statute of repose for equipment that old... Sucks, but ask anyone who's had a sewer backup - it may be the utilities fault, but it's rarely their problem. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk i think you r right Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
striped1 Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 Encore called today and said they don't owe us anything. Our insurance deductible is 1% or about 3K... 1% of coverage limit or 1% of total loss? Given what you listed, $3,000 won't be hard to hit. You should have your home electrical system checked out. Have it meg tested. It may have damaged that and could cause a fire down the road. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JimmyZip Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 I dealt with IID here in the past for the same thing on one of my jobs, they lost an underground neutral, and it fried quite a bit of electronics in the houses that were affected, but they made it right primarily because I had records of having asked that they meter the line as I was concerned with readings and fluctuations I was seeing. I would go through my insurance company as stated before. You might be surprised though. Sending bad voltages through a system causing lots of damage to homeowners, that is negligent. Many large utilities would rather just pay and be done with you. Striped1 is right too. You might want to get that checked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RangerTrace Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 The Electrician is coming this morning.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnRodriguez Posted July 24, 2015 Share Posted July 24, 2015 don't go sticking a megger on you wiring, that is a good way to make the insulation fail on it. I'm a industrial electrician and kind of know what i'm talking about on this subject. THHN wiring will get pinholes from meggers if the electrician does not know what they are doing with them. With the voltages that were given, the utility lost the neutral to you neighborhood, and your house as several circuits that are sharing the neutral, which you are not allowed to do with the NEC code book for the reason that you have experienced. This is why your lights got bright and the fan increased in speed. Everything from the meter into the house belongs to you, If the utility failed on the supply end and messed up a whole neighborhood, then it's their responsibility. My advise, lawyer up with all your neighbors, get a big enough settlement and get off the grid. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bountyhunter Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 Encore called today and said they don't owe us anything. That's why there is small claims court Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chills1994 Posted July 25, 2015 Share Posted July 25, 2015 If you do try to take them to court, I would think that there would be a discovery phase. One of the things that could possibly be revealed during the discovery phase would be their transformer maintennance records (or lack thereof). A lack of maintennance records should equal negligence. Should... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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