How to claim damaged equipment from LUMA after a power surge

It is the formal route for asking LUMA to answer for damage your property or electrical equipment suffered from a voltage fluctuation or a service failure. LUMA describes it as a formal claim evaluated under the Property Damage Claims Procedure, and clarifies something worth knowing from the start: each case is analyzed individually according to the evidence provided and the findings of a technical investigation. In other words, it is not an automatic refund on presenting a receipt, but a procedure with an evaluation.

It applies when your property or electrical equipment was affected by a voltage fluctuation or a service failure. On this page LUMA publishes no filing deadline, no closed list of covered equipment and no amount threshold; what it publishes is the procedure and the form. Since each case is analyzed individually according to the evidence, what is in your hands is the quality of that evidence: photos, estimates and official reports where applicable.

• That your property or electrical equipment was affected by a voltage fluctuation or a service failure.Verified against the official source
• Completing the Property Damage Claims Form.Verified against the official source
• Providing the other documents that may be required during the process, such as photos, repair estimates or official reports, where applicable.Verified against the official source
• Filing the claim by visiting a LUMA Customer Service Center: that is the route LUMA names for this process.Verified against the official source

• The completed Property Damage Claims Form.
• Photos of the damage, which LUMA names among the documents that may be required during the process.
• Repair estimates, which LUMA also names among the documents that may be required.
• Official reports, if they apply to your case.

1. 1

   Step 1: Document the damage before repairing or discarding anything

   LUMA says each case is analyzed individually according to the evidence provided and the findings of a technical investigation, so evidence is what holds your claim up. Take photos of the damaged equipment and of where it was plugged in, before moving, repairing or discarding it. If you throw out the refrigerator before filing, there is nothing left to investigate.

2. 2

   Step 2: Get repair estimates

   LUMA names repair estimates among the documents that may be required during the process. Getting them early saves you a round: if you wait until they are requested, the file sits still while you look for them.

3. 3

   Step 3: Gather any official reports that apply

   LUMA mentions them with a “where applicable”, so it depends on the case. If there was a fire, a fire-department response, a police report or an expert assessment, those are the documents that back up that the damage happened as and when you say.

4. 4

   Step 4: Complete the Property Damage Claims Form

   It is the central document of the process and the one LUMA expressly names. Complete it before you go, with the date and time of the event, the equipment affected and a description of what happened, so the visit to the center is about handing it in rather than filling it out.

5. 5

   Step 5: File at a Customer Service Center

   Here is where this differs from LUMA’s other tasks: bill inquiries, disconnection, meter readings and trimming requests can be done through Mi LUMA Web or by phone, but for a damage claim LUMA says to file it by visiting any of its Customer Service Centers. LUMA runs an appointment system, so it is worth booking one.

In person, at any LUMA Customer Service Center, which is the route LUMA publishes for filing a damage claim. LUMA runs an appointment system for its centers. For other account matters — bill inquiries, disconnection, submitting a meter reading, trimming or a streetlight repair — the routes are Mi LUMA Web, 1-844-888-5862, or the same center.

• Discarding or repairing the damaged equipment before taking photos and filing, and losing the evidence that supports the claim.
• Trying to file the damage claim through Mi LUMA Web, when LUMA says to file it by visiting a Customer Service Center.
• Confusing it with a bill inquiry: one is about damaged equipment, the other about disagreeing with what you were charged.
• Arriving at the center with a blank form instead of a completed one, and losing your turn filling it in there.
• Waiting for LUMA to ask for repair estimates instead of bringing them from the start.
• Assuming the claim pays out automatically, when LUMA says each case is analyzed individually according to the evidence and a technical investigation.

These are the government pages this guide is based on.

• LUMA Energy

  LUMA

  lumapr.com

• Mi LUMA Web and Mi LUMA App

  LUMA

  lumapr.com