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Does your home insurance cover UFO strikes?
A UFO was speculated to be the cause of a destroyed wind turbine in Lincolnshire last week.
But what if a UFO crashed into your house instead? What sort of response would you get from your insurance company?
Julie Carter, of specialist insurance broker Adrian Flux, recalls that when the company's Household division was set up ten years ago, many insurance companies would be sniffy about meeting bizarre claims, and 'Act of Alien' would be classed alongside 'Act of God'.
"Claims for freak household disasters are nothing new," says Julie Carter. "But if something like this happens to a householder, too often they fear the response from an insurer. They worry that it will be up to the policyholder to prove that a little green man was responsible."
However, things have improved in recent years, and Flux Household has been leading the way in flexible insurance that caters for a wider range of risks. So out of curiosity last week, Flux rang round various insurance companies to see if they would cover policyholders on some strange scenarios.
What if a meteorite was to strike my house?
No problem, they said. It would be covered.
How about a stampede of wildebeest on the run from a local safari park?
Covered.
What if a vindictive ex-husband bulldozes my home to the ground?
Yes, that too.
How about if a shark fell through my roof?
Covered, but if it was a work of art then there would be an excess, with conditions attached.
Bizarrely, this latter scenario is almost real. The famous rooftop Headington Shark in Oxford recently celebrated its 22nd birthday, and the building was surrounded by scaffolding for several months while the shark and roof were patched up to ensure it would last a few more years.
And a UFO?
Yes, of course.
"If you are going to modify your house, you need to tell your insurer what you've done. And if that includes putting a flying saucer landing pad on the roof, you need to be sure it can bear the weight. So fears about household insurance not covering the improbable are now misplaced," adds Julie Carter.
Adrian Flux aims to offer cheaper home insurance and has a range of policies for homes, contents, landlords and buy to let, including specialist schemes for hard to insure properties such as thatched homes, underpinned buildings and those at risk of flooding.
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Weather for Halifax
Tuesday 07 February 2012
Today
Cloudy
Temperature: -6 C to 3 C
Wind Speed: 8 mph
Wind direction: East
Tomorrow
Sunny
Temperature: -4 C to -1 C
Wind Speed: 7 mph
Wind direction: South
