Moneygate

Beam me up – I’m insured!

When most people think of hunting out low-cost insurance deals, it rarely conjures up images much beyond the typical life, house and car insurance. But not everything that gets insured is ordinary, and sometimes people will go that one step further to make sure the things that are important to them are kept safe.

It all started in the 1940s, when famous Hollywood actress Betty Grable had her legs insured by 20th Century Fox for $1 million per leg. And since then consumers have gone on to insure against a wide range of things, claims Annabel Green, of national IFA Moneygate.

She said: “Taking out an insurance policy to protect your home, car or even your life is fairly common. But there are some wackier policies out there now, although they may not all be offered by your local broker! Ghosts, alien abductions and church repairs can all be insured against.”

Some of the wackier things you can insure against include:

• Church repairs. An ancient law known as the chancel repair liability enables some 5,000 churches to demand money from owners of particular properties on former monastery land, to fund repairs. A couple of years ago, there was a startling case in which a couple was forced to pay more than £185,000 - plus VAT - for just this reason. As a result, you can now take out a chancel liability insurance policy, which promises to pay for repairs on your behalf should the church come knocking.

• Damaging your legs. Cristiano Ronaldo's legs are worth a pretty penny after the Portuguese star cost Real Madrid £80 million last summer. Reports indicate the Spanish club have protected their investment with a £90 million insurance policy on the forward's legs.

• Losing your teeth. Less glamorously, comedian Ken Dodd allegedly insured his trademark buck teeth for $7 million.

• Trauma. In 2002, Paul Hucker paid £105 for £1 million of cover that protected him against the "psychological trauma" of England being prematurely knocked out of the World Cup.

• Alien Abduction. You can take out a policy which provides financial compensation for individuals who can "prove" they’ve been kidnapped by aliens and then returned to Earth.

For more information go to www.moneygate.co.uk