Whilst we are committed to ensuring that our valued customers enjoy a safe and reliable electricity supply, unexpected events can result in a variation in voltage, involving damage to our network and disruption to your electricity supply. Damage may then occur to your electrical appliances or equipment. Common causes of these incidents, often referred to as ‘power surges,’ are vehicles striking poles, storms, lightning strikes and animal or bird activity.

Domestic customers and small business customers whose annual consumption of electricity is less than 160 megawatt hours per year (those with accounts up to about $20,000 per year) who wish to claim for damage to property as a result of an unauthorised voltage variation are asked to complete the claim form and provide the original of quotations for repairs or the original of accounts, if you have chosen to have repairs completed, before lodging your claim.

This type of claim is dealt with on a ‘No Blame’ basis, with an appropriate settlement made in the interests of good customer relations. Find out more about making a claim. Compensation is not provided on the basis of an admission of legal liability.

We aim to ensure that the claims process is as easy as possible for our customers and you can assist this process by following the advice on the claim form and covering letter. If you need advice, please contact SP AusNet's Customer Service Centre on 1300 360 795.
 
You may also wish to familiarise yourself with the Voltage Variation Guidelines (PDF 138.5KB) before submitting your claim, so that you fully understand your rights and responsibilities and those of SP AusNet.

Special Notes – Voltage Variation Claims

In order to be eligible for compensation for damage to electrical appliances or equipment under the Voltage Variation Guidelines:

• Your annual consumption of electricity must be less than 160 megawatt hours of electricity (around $20,000)
• Damage to your property must have resulted from a voltage variation outside the limits prescribed by the Electricity Distribution Code.

We are not obliged to compensate customers for consequential losses that arise from damage to appliances or equipment (eg. loss of profits, wages, goodwill etc). We are not obliged to offer settlement on the basis of “new” for “old”.
 
In some cases, we may not be able to confirm that an incident has occurred on our network affecting your premises. In this event, we will request that you provide a written statement from a suitably qualified person confirming that the damaged item has been inspected and that the damage is consistent with a voltage variation from SP AusNet assets.
 
If, after investigation, we are then unable to accept your claim, we will explain our decision in writing.
 
You are entitled to ask for a review of the decision regarding your claim. You should firstly contact the Claims Consultant handling your claim and ask for the matter to be reviewed at a higher level. If you are still not satisfied, you may wish to contact the office of the Energy and Water Ombudsman of Victoria on 1800 500 509.