Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in Illinois

Your lease will give you the answer, and most likely this becomes a problem for you and your renter's insurance (if you have any). Leases usually make these things -- typically beyond the landlord's control, the tenant's problem. Although the landlord may want the claim to go through its insurance because if it goes through yours your insurance may be able to go back to your landlord's. Check with your insurance agent (hopefully you had one and have renter's insurance covering your property). Could the landlord have put the whole building on a surge protection system? Sure, anybody can do anything but it's not customary since a landlord doesn't know what electronics you have that you are not protecting yourself. Now ComEd does have a claims procedure, but that's no guaranty because it's their insurance in a way. Check your lease. But if the fridge is the landlord's then that should be the landlord's problem.