Does power supply have to fry for mobo to fry in power surge

Yes this is possible, and more important, very probable!

The motherboard has a lot more sensitive components as compared to a PSU.

Let's say that there was a momentary spike in voltage due to the storm. The PSU is rugged enough to handle this, whereas the motherboard is not. The result would be a fried motherboard and an unaffected PSU.

After all, a PSU is basically a step down transformer and an AC to DC rectifier along with voltage smoothing circuitry.

The motherboard has ICs, caps, traces, Northbridge, Southbridge, RAID circuitry, etc. to mention a few. Certainly more sophisticated than a PSU by a very wide margin.

I wouldn't even think of comparing a PSU with the complexicity and sensitivity of a motherboard.

Tell your insurance guy (or gal) that they are full of crap and to engage their brain before they put their mouth in gear!

(Feel free to forward this post to them).

It is very likely like said above. Voltage spikes from a power surge will cause the motherboard to fry as the motherboard has weaker spots than a power supply

Thanks for all your help. I forwarded this message to tech

"Instead of insulting people, kindly ask them how they can prove it; tools, software, etc."

This is the response I got from the tech. Does anyone know how to check/prove the mobo fried from surge?

Their response proves how ignorant they are.

There are ways, very very expensive ways to prove it. And that is by controlled experiments in a lab costing tens of thousands of dollars. Maybe around $50,000

This is how major automobile accidents, bridge collapses, etc are analyzed.