Property Damage Attorneys Specializing in Lightning Strikes

People who don’t live in Florida likely don’t realize just how often Florida experiences thunderstorms and lightning. Parts of the western peninsula experience an average of 80 days of thunder and lightning each year, equal in frequency to some of the most active lightning hotspots in the world, like the Amazon Basin or Lake Victoria in Africa.

People living and working in Florida communities between Orlando and Tampa are likely most familiar with regular lightning strikes. In most years, this stretch of Florida has more cloud-to-ground strikes than any other part of the United States.

These storms often lead to expensive property damage for Florida homeowners, renters and businesses. Power surges can destroy or seriously damage everything from household appliances and consumer electronics to hugely expensive commercial equipment.

How Lightning Damages Property

Lightning claims tend to fall into one of a few separate buckets. In most cases, lightning strikes lead to property damage claims due to electrical damage or fires. Both types of claims can be extremely costly depending on the extent of the damage.

For electrical damage, claim valuation often depends on the cost of replacement for all your electronics or appliances that were fried in a lightning strike. If your home’s electrical system was damaged, it may require extensive repairs to fix.

Fires from lightning strikes are similarly varied. A minor fire may necessitate some relatively minor cosmetic or smoke damage repairs, while a serious fire could lead to a total loss. The value of your claim, and whether it exceeds your deductible, will be dependent on the severity of the damage.

In rarer cases a tenant or guest on a property may file a premises liability claim, alleging that the property owner’s negligence led to their electrocution or injury during a lightning strike.