If your company was devastated by a flood or fire, what’d be the first thing on your mind?

Odds are good you’d start with making sure all your co-workers made it out ok. After all that, you could start piecing together important losses — detailed financial records, sensitive info, etc. But according to  Comcast, there’s one more item that should be on the top of your agenda: “Was your cable box damaged or destroyed?”

Days after a severe blaze at the Riverwalk at Millennium condominium complex in Conshohocken, PA, left nearly 400 residents homeless, the Philadelphia-based Comcast cable company decided it was time to charge former residents for any equipment losses.

A local news station contacted the company, and Comcast said it’s absolutely true. The fire victims have been billed, but since they should be reimbursed by their insurance companies — whether they’re renters or home-owners — it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle.

Comcast isn’t entirely unfeeling: The company’s agreed to extend the due date for the charges related to damaged cable boxed until Nov. 15. When asked how much the residents are being billed for, the company said: “We don’t share specific info about our costs, but they can vary depending on the type of box. We’re doing all we can to accommodate our customers who were affected by the fire.”

Comcast also mentioned that it has stopped billing the customers for cable service — which should be handy considering they’ve all lost their televisions in the fire — and that it will be sure to waive any future re-installation costs.

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Tags: Comcast cable, Fire, Flood, Insurance