Neighbor had house fire, trying to help him out.

[geekender]

My neighbor had a house fire because a tree outside was struck by lightning. The utility room was fully engulfed, but most of the house was saved. Most importantly, no one was hurt. Me being the local "computer guy", he has asked me to a) assess the damage of his unit and b) give him the current value of a modern system. So I poked around at Dell, Micron, and Gateway just to get some basic prices and that was a breeze. Next the hard part. I did a visual inspection for signs of smoke/water damage and it was minimal. I want to be thorough so that he receives all that he is entitled to, but he nor I am out to cheat the insurance company. Some componants such as the power supply may not show signs of damage until much later. Especially if they were slightly damaged by the lightning strike.

Any suggestions on how to do this?


Edit: The computer works/runs fine. If it didn't I would post this in technical support. That is why I posted here, it seems to be ok. I am more concerned with giving it a certified paper and it dying tomorrow and him not being covered.

 

[XZeroII]

The computer was burned beyond any type of repair. Basically he needs a new computer because the old one was too far damaged. Get him something nice and charge a ton to his insurance for labor.

 

[yakko]

Originally posted by: XZeroII
The computer was burned beyond any type of repair. Basically he needs a new computer because the old one was too far damaged. Get him something nice and charge a ton to his insurance for labor.

I glad theives like you are out there trying to raise my insurance rates.

 

[FoBoT]

replace the power supply and then see if it works

 

[ViRGE]

I'd just make the assumption that the PS is dead. The odds are good enough that it is(or will be), that it's safe to chalk it up as a loss.

 

[N8Magic]

Quote prices on a new system from Alienware.

If you take the money from that and build him a box, he'll have the best box in the city.

(In case you didn't know Alienware is overpriced X 789237438943576)

 

[geekender]

Sorry, let me be more clear. There are no visible signs of damage. The machine boots fine and works completely. I have done a complete visual inspection and have run Sisoft Sandra to test for errors or BSOD's and there appears to be no problems. I don't want to give a clean bill of health however because the power supply could fail tomorrow, or the modem, or ram, or cpu, or anything from the excessive power spike it received from the lightning.

 

[Jimbo]

Edit: The computer works/runs fine. If it didn't I would post this in technical support. That is why I posted here, it seems to be ok. I am more concerned with giving it a certified paper and it dying tomorrow and him not being covered.

So you are considering putting your butt on the line (and a lifetime of free tech support) to save the insurance company a few bucks?
You would have to be insane to say that the computers are fine. Seriously.
Total them out, get him new stuff and be done with it.

 

[Shelly21]

er, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some of the people here are suggesting that you "ignore" the fact that It is working and using the insurance company to get you some cast and a new computer for him.

 

[Jimbo]

er, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some of the people here are suggesting that you "ignore" the fact that It is working and using the insurance company to get you some cast and a new computer for him.

Once again, you have no clue what is going on inside that machine. I would junk them all and not even use the parts.
When did it become geekender's job to indemnify the insurance company?
If the insurance company was that concerned, why don't they send out their own adjuster?
You would be a fool not to junk the machines.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Jimbo

er, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some of the people here are suggesting that you "ignore" the fact that It is working and using the insurance company to get you some cast and a new computer for him.

Once again, you have no clue what is going on inside that machine. I would junk them all and not even use the parts.
When did it become geekender's job to indemnify the insurance company?
If the insurance company was that concerned, why don't they send out their own adjuster?
You would be a fool not to junk the machines.

It's not a matter of justifying overcharging the insurance company... it's a matter of keeping his word and doing an honest job of appraisal. Is it that hard to understand?

 

[Hammer]

I can see it from both sides though. On one hand, the system is working so why file a claim on it. And on the other hand it might have been damaged by a power surge and could fail at any time, in which case since the claim wasn't filed, it would come out of his pocket.

Originally posted by: Shelly21
er, correct me if I'm wrong, but I think some of the people here are suggesting that you "ignore" the fact that It is working and using the insurance company to get you some cast and a new computer for him.

 

[Jimbo]

It's not a matter of justifying overcharging the insurance company... it's a matter of keeping his word and doing an honest job of appraisal. Is it that hard to understand?

Unless he has about ten to twenty grand in test equipment he CAN'T give an ACCURATE opinion.
And if he makes a bad call then he gets the liability instead of the insurance company.

 

[geekender]

... it's a matter of keeping his word and doing an honest job of appraisal

Unless he has about ten to twenty grand in test equipment he CAN'T give an ACCURATE opinion.

Yes, and yes. That is my point.

 

[Jimbo]

Yes, and yes. That is my point.

This is a potential nightmare you could be living with for a long time and if you are wrong, you screw over your neighbor. On top of everything it is your neighbor that you have to live next to for another several years.
Why are you so anxious to save the insurance company money at your own expense?

 

[geekender]

I want that insurance company to use me for their appraisals. I can also bill for the appraisal, but if I just total out every computer then they don't want to keep using me. On top of that, it is dishonest to not be 100% truthful in the appraisal. A third point would be that although I am friends with my neighbor, since the insurance company is paying for the appraisal, aren't they the customer here?

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: Jimbo

It's not a matter of justifying overcharging the insurance company... it's a matter of keeping his word and doing an honest job of appraisal. Is it that hard to understand?

Unless he has about ten to twenty grand in test equipment he CAN'T give an ACCURATE opinion.
And if he makes a bad call then he gets the liability instead of the insurance company.

I understand you are stupid Zakath.

EDIT: I'm grumpy, and tired, and I shouldn't be insulting people. Much apologies.

 

[Orsorum]

Originally posted by: geekender
I want that insurance company to use me for their appraisals. I can also bill for the appraisal, but if I just total out every computer then they don't want to keep using me. On top of that, it is dishonest to not be 100% truthful in the appraisal. A third point would be that although I am friends with my neighbor, since the insurance company is paying for the appraisal, aren't they the customer here?

It's a difficult situation, any way you look at it. Jimbo is right, it would take quite a bit of time/money to accurately determine if any of the equipment was damaged; on top of that, you have your reputation and future sales to worry about.

I haven't dealt too much with insurance companies on an issue like this; is there any way you can claim some sort of retroactive liability if it does fail?

Either way, good luck.

 

[Jimbo]

I want that insurance company to use me for their appraisals. I can also bill for the appraisal, but if I just total out every computer then they don't want to keep using me. On top of that, it is dishonest to not be 100% truthful in the appraisal. A third point would be that although I am friends with my neighbor, since the insurance company is paying for the appraisal, aren't they the customer here?

It sounds like you have a conflict of interest. Does your friend know that you are getting paid by the insurance company? Does your friend know you are trying to get more work from them? If the answer is yes then you are working for the insurance company. Does your neighbor know that?
You are playing both ends against the middle.

 

[geekender]

I think that if you are honest and give a good appraisal, it isn't a conflict of interests. My neighbor is the one who brought the computer and told me to submit the bill to them, so I would say that he is fully aware that this is the situation.

 

[rufruf44]

Let me understand this correctly, did the lightning also strike the house and cause short circuit, or just cause the tree to fall into and burn the utility room ? If the lightning did strike the house, how good its the system protected against it (surge protector, UPS, etc) ? Was the computer on when all of this happen ?

 

[skace]

I think it would be safe to assume that if the machine was infact hit by the spike, that it was damaged. You are now appraising how much damage and that is hard. I know even static electricity can shorten the lifespan of a component, a large spike can flat out kill it or shorten its life a lot. So yes the machine could be working fine today and die tomorrow and you will never know. I'd run some stress benchmarks as the very least you can do. See how it holds up under stress. I'd also tell him to back up his data NOW, regardless of what ends up happening.

 

[Frolodo]

please help:

do the insurance companies buy a new computer for the insured or do they pay the insured the amount the computer is currently worth? (multiply original price by 0.6 for every year old)

 

[rufruf44]

Depend on the insurance policy, whether its value based or include replacement cost.

 

[evergreen96]

I believe it just right to tell him you are working for the insurance if he doesn't know alright just to be sure..... Usually appraisalers low ball you always.. AFAIK if it works, its doesn't need to be fixed, don't fix it (most insurance motto). If you were to do it correctly, the the claim should mostly like be the cost of labor and PS. That it...

but then again, it might (indirectly) cost your friendship.