Finding An Attorney To File A Class Action Against A Utility (San Francisco: sales, home owners insurance)

[cb73]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

I would think, that if there's a chance the utility could be held liable, the homeowners' insurance companies would go after that.

This still doesn't address the issue of ratepayers being billed for the surge, as if the cost were due to their excessive consumption. And the fact that insurance companies are willing to pay out, without looking into utility liability, implies that they're fine with shelling out every time electrical service is cut off, and restoration causes a destructive surge. It doesn't quite make sense.

What the insurance companies' involvement does mean, is that the OP and his aggrieved neighbors may have to limit their complaint to the State Attorney General to the excessive billing. More info is needed about this case. OP, did you have renters' or homeowners' insurance? And your neighbors who are also complaining--do they have insurance?

I used to work with insurance companies in a previous job. I asked once about their decisions to pay and was told that sometimes the decision is not based on right/wrong, but on the cost to pay vs. the cost to fight. And fighting a huge utility in court might end up be many times more than just doing a payout.

[Elliott_CA]

Found the incident, happened in Tulare:

"In a statement, Southern California Edison said generally SCE is responsible for losses that occurred due to negligence and not by causes beyond SCE's control."

Correct. SCE is NOT responsible for the outage caused by the drunk driver. But SCE IS responsible for turning the power back on in a competent and safe manner that does not damage the property of hundreds of residents.

Power outages due to storms, etc., happen from time to time everywhere. Widespread damage due to power surges when restoring power is not normal. IHMO it is strong evidence of negligence, improper operation, lack of maintenance or bad design in the system.

You're fighting the good fight, O.P. Best of luck to you!

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Elliott_CA

Found the incident, happened in Tulare:

"In a statement, Southern California Edison said generally SCE is responsible for losses that occurred due to negligence and not by causes beyond SCE's control."

Correct. SCE is NOT responsible for the outage caused by the drunk driver. But SCE IS responsible for turning the power back on in a competent and safe manner that does not damage the property of hundreds of residents.

Power outages due to storms, etc., happen from time to time everywhere. Widespread damage due to power surges when restoring power is not normal. IHMO it is strong evidence of negligence, improper operation, lack of maintenance or bad design in the system.

You're fighting the good fight, O.P. Best of luck to you!

This is common sense. The drunk driver did not cause the power surge. He caused the outage, but not a mishandled restoration of power.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Ruth4Truth

This is common sense. The drunk driver did not cause the power surge. He caused the outage, but not a mishandled restoration of power.

Surges are not uncommon when power is restored. Drunks hitting power poles and disrupting the grid is the issue. I know a thing or two about things electrical. Want a power surge? Restore power after its cut off. When ever you turn on a light, the bulb suffers a small surge. That the main reason the bulb burns out over time.

But yea, the OP stands to make more money suing PGE than the drunk

[Mr5150]

The OP is now gone. Certain legal realities have been explained. End of thread

[Des-Lab]

No I'm still here. I'm just following this.

[Ruth4Truth]

Originally Posted by Des-Lab

No I'm still here. I'm just following this.

Give us an update when you have news on your case, ok? We love updates.

[Elliott_CA]

Originally Posted by Mr5150

Surges are not uncommon when power is restored.

A small surge is common, yes. But a power surge that damages the appliances and electronics of hundreds of residents all at once is NOT common. Not at all! The fact that it happened is prima facie evidence that SCE messed up big time.

[Mr5150]

Originally Posted by Elliott_CA

A small surge is common, yes. But a power surge that damages the appliances and electronics of hundreds of residents all at once is NOT common. Not at all! The fact that it happened is prima facie evidence that SCE messed up big time.

OK, but the OP was talking about PGE. A company in bankruptcy. One can sue them, but you won’t collect a cent even if you prevail. OP take note. Focus on the drunk driver

[NoMoreSnowForMe]

It seems to me that everyone who was hurt by this could file an insurance claim. Then, sue the electric company and/or the drunk driver for their deductibles in small claims court, where the max is $10,000. I'm assuming that would cover their deductions.

Lawyers will take a case if they think they can make money on it. So, if you can't find a lawyer to take this as a class action, they must not think they can win or at least make enough money to justify their time and resources.

But, you can all start filing insurance claims, then file small claims court actions. It would be fun if all of you organized to show up at the courthouse on the same day to sue for your deductibles and call the news station, too.

My guess, is the electric company would pay you all your deductibles because they can't send a lawyer to small claims court and they'd be sending some manager out to represent them - never do that. They'd just pay up.

I recently did this with AARP The Hartford. They dinked me around on a renters claim (truck broken into, and the stuff that was stolen was covered) that they denied. I went around and around with them, then just filed a small claims court action and subpoenaed any recordings they had of my phone calls to them and any in-house documents regarding incentives to deny or delay or lowball claims. They paid me the full amount I wanted and that they should have just paid me.

Anyway, it's another way to go. Good luck.