Econder diagnostic question

[u4mzu4]

Hello!
I'm looking forward some diagnostic solution for this i2cEncoder, basically the I2C bus is already covered.
Since I couldn't find any CRC or inverse stored register, how can I catch any HW failure?
The best I've come up with:

int encoderErrorcounter;
while (0 == Encoder.readCounterInt())
{
encoderErrorcounter++;
Encoder.writeCounter((int32_t)65535);
if (encoderErrorcounter >= 5)
{
Serial.println("Encoder error!");
break;
}
}

Is there a better way? Or any hints welcome...
Best regards,
Andras