Although I've read about the damage that lightning strikes can do to wiring this was the first time I had actually seen it.
I could not get my head around the fact that apart from the hairdryer, no other appliances were damaged. The TV, fridge, computers were all plugged in and although we didn’t PAT test them they were all working.
To do that much damage to the cables I would have thought some of them would have been damaged, and why just the hair dryer?
To finish the story, we contacted the insurance company to explain the situation and they put us onto the lose adjuster. Their first reply was “tough, the claim was closed 6 months ago”.
![Eek! :eek: :eek:](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)
So I asked this nice chap to send me a copy of the test certificate that was issued when the supply was re-connected. His reply was “what test certificate”? After a 30-minute conversation he agreed to meet us at the house.
We ran through the test sheet with him and pointed that this type of testing should have been done before the supply was re-connected. We also pointed out that his representative reversed the polarity and changed the RCD, which could have had disastrous consequences, even more so because in this case the wiring was shot to bits.
We contacted the NIC to see where we stood if we left the installation live, knowing it was badly damaged and with a 100mA RCD on a TT supply. Rather than move the householders into a hotel the NIC agreed that if we supplied enough plug in 30mA RCDs, (1 per double socket) then they could see no reason why we could not re-connect the supply.
As we left, the poor lady of the house was in tears at the thought of her beautiful house being ripped apart.
The loss adjuster was also close to tears at the thought of having to pay for the re-wire and builders work.
And the moral of the story? Make sure when you have work done you get a test certificate otherwise you wont have a leg to stand on if it all goes Pete Tong.