Insurance companies are normally willing to insure anything.
Insuring public or private property is a standard practice in most countries in the world.
If, however, you were holding an open air garden party or a fete it would be equally possible to insure yourself in the event of bad weather.
Needless to say, the bigger the risk an insurance company takes, the higher the premium you will have to pay.
It is not uncommon to hear that a ship ping company has made a claim for the cost of salvaging a sunken ship.
But the claim made by a local authority to recover the cost of salvaging a sunken pie dish must surely be unique.
Admittedly it was an unusual pie dish, for it was eighteen feet long and six feet wide.
It had been purchased by a local authority so that an enormous pie could be baked for an annual fair.
The pie committee decided that the best way to transport the dish would be by canal, so they insured it for the trip.
Shortly after it was launched, the pie dish met with some trouble.
The vessel was stranded on a sandbank two days later in a storm.
A tugboat was sent to the ship's assistance.
Despite the fact that a tugboat was towing the pie dish, it could not prevent it from going aground again.
The local authority realized that they could not handle the situation alone, so they decided to call in a dredging company to help them out.
The dredging company sent a huge dredger which could handle the situation.
When the dredger arrived, it began to suck up the sand around the pie dish.
As it sucked up the sand, the dish became lighter and lighter.
Finally, the dish was lifted out of the sand and placed on a barge.
It was then towed to its destination.
The local authority was very pleased with the way things had been handled.
They were also very happy that they had insured the pie dish for the full value.
When they submitted their claim to the insurance company, they were surprised to find that the insurance company was also very happy to pay up.
The insurance company explained that the pie dish was a unique item and that they had no intention of disputing the claim.
After all, they had been fully insured.