I have proper surge suppressors (If they blow, they change color) installed in my front power distribution board along with earth leakage current trip relays.
I also use lightning tubes on the phone line, I will know when they have been used and failed, because I wont be typing this ;-)
If I get hit by a direct lighting strike its all toast anyway, just in varying degrees of toasted but that's why we have backups.
You do what you do to minimise the damage, and as with all insurance you trade off between cost, effectiveness and risk.
Inside the house I only use filtering to remove noise and spikes (fridge, washing machine, vacuum etc).
I have seen surge suppressor power boards that are 'ok' but these have not been the norm. You really have to open them up and know what you are looking for so it's a bit of a lottery. I've also seen ones with a thinner earth lead compared to active and neutral lines... sigh.
I gave up on UPS's, power failures are rare here now, and the UPS normally fry's itself before its really needed.