DENVER — Some Colorado renters are feeling frustrated, following Xcel Energy power outages that affected more than 150,000 customers.
Denver resident Nellie Conboy said she got swept up in the mass outage.
"A grand total of, I think, 67 hours," Conboy said. "Everyone lost their food, medicine that was perishable disintegrated, we didn’t have running water, which was wild."
Conboy said she didn't have power from Saturday night to Tuesday mid-day. She was able to stay with a friend while waiting for Xcel to restore her building's electricity off East 18th. Despite this, she couldn't escape financial losses shared by some of her fellow tenants.
"I submit a claim for all the food I lost, just gone to the grocery store, I reckon about $350 combined with the old stuff I lost," Conboy said.
Conboy works as a teacher and said money is tight. In an effort to get some sort of reimbursement, she said her apartment management recommended filing a claim with American Modern, an insurance company.
"They said it was denied because they called the management of our apartment, and they had said, it was due to wind and the deductible was $1,000 for wind damage which is absurd to me."
Conboy said some of her neighbors did receive checks for their claims, but most are still trying to make up the losses.
"A huge portion of us are, like, totally lost," Conboy said.
According to the Rocky Mountain Insurance Information Association, spoiled food is considered an insured damage in storms.
Still, Executive Director Carole Walker said submitting a small claim now might not be the smartest decision for a consumer.
"On a food spoilage claim for a short-term power outage, while you likely will have coverage, look at how much that claim will be," Walker explained. "So if it’s a $500 claim and you have a $1,000 deductible, then you won’t have enough insurance because you agreed to pay that first amount out of pocket."
Walker said continuous little claims can add up to big potential problems.
"If you file a number of small claims over a short period of time, that could put you at risk of non-renewal of your renter's or homeowner's policy," Walker said.
Walker said getting ahead of storm damages and picking the right insurance will set up renters and homeowners for potential expenses.
"It's important any time we have a big wind storm, blizzard, we're coming into wildfire season, to be thinking about how much insurance you need, but also what your policy limits and deductibles are."
Conboy said since she was not successful in getting reimbursed through her apartment-recommended renter's insurance, she is going to keep trying elsewhere.
"I’m going to stay tuned to what my neighbors are finding out," Conboy explained. "It seems like different adjusters are offering different solutions, so one has said if you can get management to verify that the situation happened in this way, we might be able to get you some of the money back so I’m willing to try that for sure."
Xcel Energy said it does not reimburse customers for food spoilage, even in the event of a power outage pre-empted by crews. According to Xcel, by Sunday morning, 155,000 customers were still without power.
As of Wednesday, just before 5 p.m., fewer than 300 customers were affected by outages in Colorado.
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