How To Claim For Damages Caused By Kenya Power’s Unstable Voltages

Its no secret that Kenya power provides us a below standard product most of the time and charges a high amount for it. Here is Kenya Powers Vision “To provide world class power that delights our customers”. If you are delighted with Kenya Power then you would not be reading this. This post is not about how to sue Kenya Power but the preparation to claim for damages caused by incorrect voltages.  Its about how to claim for damages caused by Kenya Power’s Unstable Voltages

If you believe that after following these steps and you are wronged in any way, then you can hire a lawyer and proceed to suing Kenya Power and Lighting Company for Damages.

KPLC must provide you, a normal household consumer with 240 Volts 50Hz Alternating Current (AC) nothing more, nothing less or none at all.  Yes, No power at all is a crime but actually Kenya Power can provide you with no power at all under rule 27 of the electric power rules. These guys are very wise. So there are two ways your precious consumer electronics can get damaged, by over voltages or under voltages.

An explanation of under and over voltages mentioned above are expected and here they are:-

Under voltages are any voltages considerably below 240 Volts, not 239 Volts or 220 Volts but anything lower than 200 Volts may be considered as Low voltage. If you power up your equipment with low voltages it will tend to draw more current to compensate for the unavailable voltage. This can make your cables become hot and hot cables catch fire after long periods. While transformer based electronics will not work, some of the newer electronic gadgets with switch mode power supplies (SMPS) will work fine, and that’s why you see a Colour TV working fine even though the incandescent bulb is dim.

Over voltages are the most dangerous, you might have heard some people referring to the phrase power surge. Power surges are short bursts of higher than normal voltages that massacre any unprotected electronic devices.
Well if you suspect your equipment has been damaged by a Power surge this is what you should do.

1. Make an informal complaint by telephoning your local Kenya Power offices. This will give them a chance to respond to your complaint in the correct manner.
2. Kenya Power will be more than willing to resolve your complaint or will it?
3. If the phone call or numerous phone calls do not yield anything then deliver your complaint in writing to the complaints department or fill out a complaints form if they have one.
4. State all the facts clearly and concisely, do not exaggerate and keep a copy of the correspondence.  Also attach all relevant documents to your complaint.
5. Also try and get a technical report from an authorized service center where you took your gadget for repair. The point here is to prove that your expensive electronic device was damaged by an abnormal Voltage. It will be too bad if the item in question is a Substandard product and therefore a safety risk.
6. Here is a short story. My friend recently received a Pioneer AV unit from the USA. Unlike Kenya America uses 110 Volts instead of 240 Volts. So one day he powered it without realising this and it got destroyed immediately. He cannot claim anything from Kenya Power since he was negligent. Even a technical report will not work here.
7. You can also read how to Protect yourself from buying counterfeit Electronics & appliances in Kenya.

If your complaint is not resolved then you can take legal action. There are lawyers out there willing to take your case.

If this seems like a long process and be sure it will be long then buy power surge protectors like sollatek, the best locally.