As a general rule, homeowners’ insurance isn’t going to cover damage to your personal property caused by power surges. Damage to roofs or exteriors caused by lightning should be covered, but the electrical surge coursing through your home’s power system probably isn’t included as a source of damage that is insured.

There is, however, special insurance available for power surges caused by lightning and by the restoration of power after an outage. Florida Power and Light, a regional company serving about two thirds of the state, has teamed up with American Bankers Insurance – also a Florida based firm – to provide Power Surge protection insurance.

FPL Energy Services has had years of experience dealing with lightning strikes and power surges and knows the damage they cause. While there’s no way to completely prevent the damage, Power Surge Protection can provide post-surge recovery for your essential electronics and appliances.

Facts on lightning provided by FPL:

* Lightning is the most dangerous and most frequent weather hazard experienced.

* Damage from lightning to home electronics usually occurs from an indirect strike to utility poles or wires nearby entering the building through power, phone and TV lines.

* Lightning causes billions of dollars in property damage every year.

* The state of Florida, the lightning capital, experienced over 300,000 lightning strikes in 2002 alone.

Their Power Surge Protection policy covers the cost to repair or replace your appliances and electronic equipment caused by damage from power surges and lightning strikes. There is no deductible. Coverage ranges from $2,000 to $10,000 and monthly premiums from five to twenty five dollars a month.

If you live in an area where you find yourself scurrying around pulling the plug on various computers and TVs more times a year than you’d like, there is insurance out there – at least in Florida – to protect your equipment if you aren’t there to scurry.