The company, which has nearly 24,000 Members across the Westcountry, has been asked to provide insurance cover for a stately home worth more than £5 million, a family of camels, medical gasses and a bronze statue marking the 1497 Cornish rebellion.
Other more unusual requests for cover include vast and expensive porcelain, art and antiques collections and a road bicycle with no lights for daytime use only – all of which were refused.
One Inspector working for Cornish Mutual in North Devon also handled an insurance claim where a sunbathing sheep was startled by a postal van and managed to jump through a person’s front room window and disembowel itself, dying on the owner’s lounge floor carpet.
In 2010/11 more than 5,800 insurance claims were handled by Cornish Mutual in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset and the company paid out over £10 million.
Philip Wilson, Business Development Manager at Cornish Mutual, says: “I would like to say that we have seen and heard it all before when it comes to strange requests for insurance cover or the more unusual claims, but now I’m not so sure!
On a serious note, it is very important to ensure that you have the right type of insurance cover in place for your personal belongings or items of any value, however bizarre or unusual they may be. It’s worth checking that you are adequately insured to the right level because if you need to make a claim, you may find yourself underinsured.”
He adds: “Compared to other insurers, we pride ourselves on our very straightforward claims service where we make it as easy as possible for our Members to claim. Although these examples are some of the more unusual ones we’ve handled, our Member Services team and local Inspectors do a great job of dealing with claims and requests for insurance and do their best to help wherever they can.
“Because we provide a very personal, flexible service and range of bespoke insurance products, we can tailor our cover around the specific needs of the individual wherever possible, so it is always worth checking with us first.”
Cornish Mutual is based in Truro, employs more than 70 members of staff and provides insurance products for people and businesses across Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset. For more information visit www.cornishmutual.co.uk
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