diff --git a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/error.py b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/error.py
index 8f769268..b6d615c9 100644
--- a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/error.py
+++ b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/error.py
@@ -73,3 +73,10 @@ class SignerError(Exception):
 
     """
     pass
+
+
+class EthError(Exception):
+    """Exception raised when unspecified error from evm node is encountered
+
+    """
+    pass
diff --git a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/eth/tx.py b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/eth/tx.py
index b5fa56d9..ec87ba3b 100644
--- a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/eth/tx.py
+++ b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/eth/tx.py
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ from cic_eth.task import (
         CriticalWeb3Task,
         CriticalWeb3AndSignerTask,
         CriticalSQLAlchemyAndSignerTask,
+        CriticalSQLAlchemyAndWeb3Task,
         )
 
 celery_app = celery.current_app
@@ -48,7 +49,7 @@ MAX_NONCE_ATTEMPTS = 3
 
 
 # TODO this function is too long
-@celery_app.task(bind=True, throws=(OutOfGasError), base=CriticalSQLAlchemyTask)
+@celery_app.task(bind=True, throws=(OutOfGasError), base=CriticalSQLAlchemyAndWeb3Task)
 def check_gas(self, tx_hashes, chain_str, txs=[], address=None, gas_required=None):
     """Check the gas level of the sender address of a transaction.
 
@@ -76,6 +77,9 @@ def check_gas(self, tx_hashes, chain_str, txs=[], address=None, gas_required=Non
             if address == None:
                 address = o['address']
 
+    if not web3.Web3.isChecksumAddress(address):
+        raise ValueError('invalid address {}'.format(address))
+
     chain_spec = ChainSpec.from_chain_str(chain_str)
 
     queue = self.request.delivery_info['routing_key']
@@ -84,7 +88,12 @@ def check_gas(self, tx_hashes, chain_str, txs=[], address=None, gas_required=Non
     c = RpcClient(chain_spec)
 
     # TODO: it should not be necessary to pass address explicitly, if not passed should be derived from the tx
-    balance = c.w3.eth.getBalance(address) 
+    balance = 0
+    try:
+        balance = c.w3.eth.getBalance(address) 
+    except ValueError as e:
+        raise EthError('balance call for {}'.format())
+
     logg.debug('address {} has gas {} needs {}'.format(address, balance, gas_required))
 
     if gas_required > balance:
diff --git a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/task.py b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/task.py
index 2b5f6af2..5d34e5af 100644
--- a/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/task.py
+++ b/apps/cic-eth/cic_eth/task.py
@@ -6,7 +6,10 @@ import celery
 import sqlalchemy
 
 # local imports
-from cic_eth.error import SignerError
+from cic_eth.error import (
+        SignerError,
+        EthError,
+        )
 
 
 class CriticalTask(celery.Task):
@@ -33,6 +36,7 @@ class CriticalSQLAlchemyAndWeb3Task(CriticalTask):
         sqlalchemy.exc.DatabaseError,
         sqlalchemy.exc.TimeoutError,
         requests.exceptions.ConnectionError,
+        EthError,
         )
 
 class CriticalSQLAlchemyAndSignerTask(CriticalTask):