A plague of locusts, raining frogs, lightning hits your car. Are you covered?
At what point does the rain reach a certain level beyond which it takes on the more apocalyptic mantle of the water-based punishment of the Lord? (Bill Bailey)
The Wikipedia definition: Act of God or act of nature is a legal term for events outside of human control, such as sudden floods or other natural disasters, for which no one can be held responsible.
People often ask the question, "Does my car inurance cover me for acts of god?" The truth is that you would find it exceptionally difficult to find a car insurance policy which has any mention of "Acts of God".
If you have comprehensive insurance and house insurance, you are more than likely covered for every eventuality that our deities can throw at us, even if you are an atheist.
Read the small print to make sure your policy is not riddled with theological inconsistency and avoid becoming the 'Samaritan Squirrel' in the relationship with your insurance company.
1. Raining Frogs
Not only frogs, but worms, jellyfish, birds, fish and turtles have all been recorded as falling from the sky. Waterspouts are thought to suck up the poor creatures, delivering them hundreds of miles away on unsuspecting people.
Nobody could forget the Paul Thomas Anderson film Magnolia.
This clip from the film features a torrential downpour of amphibians, witnessed by Officer Jim Kurring from his patrol car. The film is riddled with references to Exodus 8:2
"If you refuse to let them go, I will bring a plague of frogs on your whole country."
The numbers 8 and 2 appear throughout the film in telephone numbers on signs, painted on the side of an aeroplane, written on walls and at the poker table.
2. Plague of Locusts
As Bill Bailey mentions in the first clip above, you really don't want a plague of locusts to swarm around your vehicle and rip the wing mirrors off, leaving you with a £50 excess!
The eighth plague of the bible, locusts were said to "have no king, yet all of them divide into swarms by instinct" and were known as one of the four little wise things, the others being ants, spiders (or lizards depending on the translation) and rock badgers! (or rabbits depending on the translation again.)
This clip "Attack of the Locusts" is accompanied by some appocalyptic sounding music, which dissapointingly comes from the Lion King, but shows how much damage a locust can do to your car (actually very little!) Visit www.fao.org if you are worried.
3. Lightning hits van
Luckily nobody has ever died from being hit by lightning while in their car, in fact the safest place to be in a thunderstorm is in your car. This is because a car acts like a faraday cage.
When lightning strikes an aircraft or a car the electric currents induced on it are forced to travel on the outer skin of the vehicle's body. If you were in a car, and the car got struck by lightning, it is not in fact the rubber tyres which would save your life. If the lightning can jump from the sky to your car, then it can jump from your car to the ground.
What actually happens, is by being enclosed in the car's cabin, the lightning travels around you, through the conductive frame of the car.
The BBC television program Top Gear once sat the presenter Richard Hammond in a car while it was struck by a simulated lightning bolt of 800,000 volts at the Siemens High-Voltage lab in Berlin. (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ve6XGKZxYxA)
4. Floods (The water-based punishment of the Lord)
The most incredible thing about the Boscastle flooding (August 2004) is that nobody lost their lives, cars are swept down the main street, crashing into buildings and carried far out to sea. A total of 75mm of rain, ( the August average rainfall,) fell in just two hours.
5. Meteorite strike
In 1790, the idea that meteors actually fell from the sky was regarded as a superstitious delusion. Since then there have been many recorded incidents where meteorites have hit houses, cars and even a mailbox. One of the more recent was recorded on 8th November 2004 in Orlando, where a meteorite hit a car, sadly I couldn't find any record of what was on their car insurance claim.
This classic advert from Toyota is just a bit of fun, but gives a good idea of what to expect if you see that burning trail of vapour heading towards your car.
6. Earthquake
In the event of a quake, get under something heavy, such as a desk, a table or your grandmother. To minimize loss and damage in an earthquake, try not to own too many things.
If your vehicle is damaged by an earthquake, the good news is that you will be covered as long as you have comprehensive car insurance cover.
