I lifted this from another discussion on Surge Protectors and the insurance they claim to provide. I think it came from this forum but unfortunately I don't know who wrote it or when. I copied it and saved it for future reference and here it is:

As far as that insurance is concerned, think about this: manufacturers rate a surge protector's protection for the bare minimum that they KNOW it will protect against. There's no way that a surge lower than the rated protection will ever get through to your equipment. It's all physics. If it gets through, it HAS to be greater than the protection rating, one way or another. Well, they're not going to pay for anything that was damaged by a surge greater than the protector was rated to handle, so anything that was big enough to get through the protector would void the coverage.

What if it's defective, and fails to protect against a normal surge? Well, there's always some kind of LED or other type of light that gives an indication of whether or not the breaker is working. If that light isn't on, it's unusually dim, or it flashes, then there's something wrong with the breaker. Since the surge protector gives you a visual indication when it's not working properly, the manufacturer sure isn't going to pay for anything you were brave enough to plug into it.

In other words, there's really never a time when you can collect anything. Maybe once in a blue moon someone makes it through the system, but I've never known anyone who has actually succeeded. It basically just lets them put something attractive on the package.
If you recognize that as yours please feel free to take credit.