Insurance Policy for Damage during Nuclear War

aleph1 on 01/05/2022 - 10:10

Aami states the following in their car insurance policy disclosure statement:

You are not covered under any section of this policy for damage, loss, cost or legal liability that is caused by or arises from or involves:

  • Radioactivity/nuclear materials:

  • action of nuclear fission including detonation of any nuclear device or nuclear weapon;

Why do they bother to delineate on the fission/fusion point?

Given that Russia's arsenal seems to consist largely of Fusion (Hydrogen) bombs, do you think I'll be OK?

I'm guess no, as they'd just state that it's an act of war, and therefore all bets are off anyway as far as they are concerned.

Automotive Car Insurance Insurance

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  • pegaxs on 01/05/2022 - 10:26

    Pretty sure if your car gets (fropanity) up due to a nuclear blast, the least of your worries is going to be… "I wonder how long it will take AAMI to process my claim??"

    • 51
    • Neoika on 01/05/2022 - 10:35

      Most people do not stay far from their vehicle. My question is can you survive after it?

      • 5
      • Ultimate Gattai on 02/05/2022 - 16:53

        This is my thought, if the car gets hit with a nuke, you probably will too.

        • 1
        • zzznomadzzz on 02/05/2022 - 22:29

          Yes but you'd want your cousin from thousands miles away to have the option of claiming your nuked Camry on your behalf. Your cousin will then put the money claimed into a bitcoin account that you pre-setup and it'll grow in mad value over the course of 200 years. By then, cloning tech is perfect, the bitcoin fund will automatically pay for your cloning and you'll be respawned, and time travel back to 2022 to comment on this post.

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    • serpserpserp on 05/05/2022 - 10:15

      Says you, that is the first number I am calling after waiting 200+ years in my bunker for the fallout to clear up so I can get my 5G reception.

      • 1
  • Heaps for Cheaps on 01/05/2022 - 12:49

    Pro tip: If your car is evaporated in a nuclear strike, just claim it was stolen.

    • 51
    • JTTheMan on 03/05/2022 - 11:47

      This comment made my day today!!!
      You win the internet!!!

      • 3
      • Heaps for Cheaps on 03/05/2022 - 12:13

        Thanks, I hope you have a great day, week, month, year :)

        • 4
  • MS Paint on 01/05/2022 - 10:19

    Don't sweat the small stuff.

    • 37
    • SF3 on 01/05/2022 - 10:32

      I also think, don’t sweat the stuff that are so big, as it won’t matter, as we’ll all most likely be 💀 (insurer and insuree).

      • 15
    • aleph1 on 01/05/2022 - 12:10

      I'm not, but this one thing has really got me worried.

      • 3
      • pharkurnell on 01/05/2022 - 12:13

        Foil hats are on sale on amazon.

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        • fantombloo on 01/05/2022 - 14:40

          However small (or otherwise) it may be ATM, nuclear war is a real risk. Foil hats are not required.

          • 4
          • pharkurnell on 01/05/2022 - 19:32

            @fantombloo: if theres a nuclear war, your car insurance will be the least of your problems…

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            • schquid on 02/05/2022 - 09:25

              @pharkurnell: Spot on. It's your credit rating that you really need to worry about.

              • 12
              • pharkurnell on 02/05/2022 - 09:53

                @schquid: Also would need to look into mutant coverage and radioactive glowing rubble coverage

                • 4
          • brendanm on 01/05/2022 - 14:44

            @fantombloo: They stop the beta particles entering your brain.

            • 0
        • preddye on 03/05/2022 - 08:39

          Foil hats were introduced by the government to help them actually access our brainwaves better

          • 3
      • Ultimate Gattai on 02/05/2022 - 16:51

        Your expecting someone to be flinging nukes at Australia? It's possible, but very unlikely, if that happens, you'll probably be a goner along with the car.

        I personally wouldn't worry about it.

        • 4
      • johnno07 on 03/05/2022 - 07:31

        If you're really worried I can insure your vehicles for damage by nuclear fission.

        • 3
        • lachhelix on 03/05/2022 - 08:00

          "Nuclear Insurance"

          • 0
      • lew380 on 02/05/2022 - 10:50

        Turn off your tv.

        • 1
        • Euphemistic on 02/05/2022 - 12:19

          Why LED tvs don’t have anywhere near the radiation potential of an old CRT.

          • 2
          • vid_ghost on 03/05/2022 - 11:04

            @Euphemistic: But we now have RF radiation from the wifi's and blutooth built into these TV's…

            • 0
            • Euphemistic on 03/05/2022 - 12:08

              @vid_ghost: If course the ghost of video is going. To say that. You want us all to ditch digital and go back to tape.

              • 0
      • fredk1000 on 03/05/2022 - 22:12

        I would start digging your bunker if I was you.

        • 0
    • kabammi on 04/05/2022 - 12:21

      It's there because it would affect every car on the road all at once, and probably bankrupt them.
      I would imagine the health insurance and life insurance policies would have something like that too.. wouldn't they?

      • 0
    • Ozschmargain on 01/05/2022 - 12:36

      (and its ALL small stuff). Especially the 'rona.

      • -4
  • Euphemistic on 01/05/2022 - 10:41

    A hangover clause from the Cold War that suddenly seems a little more relevant. Except that in the event of nuclear war we are going to be driving black XB falcons and wearing strange bondage related fashions.

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    • barcer on 02/05/2022 - 09:00

      I wonder if the XB Falcon might survive war better? Minimal electronics, wouldn't be disabled by EMP?

      • 1
    • Ultimate Gattai on 02/05/2022 - 16:54

      Should I get my mad max outfit ready?

      It's a strange clause to still include, but understandable, especially in the times we live in now.

      • 1
      • OneJay on 03/05/2022 - 01:19

        You don’t need a nuclear war as an excuse to start wearing arseless chaps…

        • 8
      • try2bhelpful on 02/05/2022 - 17:12

        What is worrying is that you have a mad max outfit ready to go :)

        • 5
        • Ultimate Gattai on 02/05/2022 - 17:14

          I was prepared, I've prepared outfits for the whole family just in case, I've also studied the blu-rays extensively :).

          • 2
    • aleph1 on 01/05/2022 - 12:11

      That's interesting about it being a hangover form the Cold War, never thought of that.

      • 0
      • RockyRaccoon on 01/05/2022 - 13:45

        It aint a hangover, and its more than likely a reinsurance condition as well. (insurers cover their bets with these reinsurance companies)

        Bomb drops - cars fried, so is all infastructure, doubt you would even be able to call Aami.

        You wouldnt even be able to fuel (Ice/EV) any replacement car either

        Other thoughts.

        Who would be alive to assess the car. and if they were, they wouldnt even want to go within 100km of where it sits.

        And if a bomb drops here, there is more than likely bombs being dropped in a lot of other places. Not just Australia.

        Having lived through a simple earthquake and lived a house that survived, other infastructure took 2 weeks to be restored.

        Or those in Lismore where they were just flooded, not fried

        • 4
        • Carmen Sandiego on 03/05/2022 - 08:06

          As far as I understand it, it's a little bit of column A, and a little bit of column B.

          Reinsurance terms come into it, I agree, but those only came about because of actual events and therefore, you can consider it a hangover from WWI, WWII, and the Cold War.

          • 0
  • Crow K on 01/05/2022 - 13:54

    It's like that episode of Dinosaurs where Earl has meteor insurance and when the meteor hits his house the insurance dinosaur says "Ah, now when it entered the Earth's atmosphere, it went from being a meteor to a meteorite, which you are not covered for.."

    After which baby Sinclair says "Not the mama!" and hits him with a frying pan

    Ha ha, I'll bet he wishes he had frying pan insurance!

    • 15
    • serpserpserp on 05/05/2022 - 10:17

      Easily one of the best comments on OZB ever

      • 1
  • prisonmike on 01/05/2022 - 14:18

    You will be long dead before you are able to get through to AAMI customer care to lodge the claim

    • 12
    • pjetson on 02/05/2022 - 09:15

      A lot of companies/government departments are like that already.

      • 7
    • JTTheMan on 03/05/2022 - 11:49

      Even if you were still alive imagine the hold time…"lucky you're with AAMI" on repeat for hours!

      • 2
  • try2bhelpful on 01/05/2022 - 14:46

    Honestly, I live as close as possible to the CBD in Melbourne. When the bomb drops I’m fried in the first few seconds. No way I want to have to live with the “preppers”.

    • 8
    • EightImmortals on 01/05/2022 - 15:05

      Wont they get evaporated too?

      • 0
      • try2bhelpful on 01/05/2022 - 15:56

        Not taking the risk. I want to be a shadow on the wall long before they get much say in how society is run.

        • 6
  • Windows98 on 03/05/2022 - 09:09

    Imagine calling your insurance company after a nuclear bomb and filing a claim.

    • 5
    • pandadude on 03/05/2022 - 13:23

      There going to start selling nuclear insurance but excludes wars.

      • 0
  • [Deactivated] on 03/05/2022 - 21:37

    You don't need your insurance to cover that kind of damage, just contact the local Russian embassy/consulate and confirm they have a valid 3rd party insurance.

    • 4
    • typhoonadventure on 05/05/2022 - 09:56

      Yeah but they didn't do it, you did it by being on their land!

      • 0
  • EightImmortals on 01/05/2022 - 15:04

    "Given that Russia's arsenal seems to consist largely of Fusion (Hydrogen) bombs, do you think I'll be OK?"

    Phew!

    I'd be worried if they didn't cover fission bombs as well!

    • 3
  • drfuzzy on 03/05/2022 - 01:30

    I can offer you nuclear holocaust insurance.

    • 3
  • MrKnowItAll on 03/05/2022 - 14:41

    I hope my insurance company doesn't have these same exclusions.
    Understanding that a bomb would likely never hit an area like Gosnells, WA (why would you? it's filled with meth labs and guys wielding flamethrowers - hardly a good target) I couldn't imagine leaving the family without a car to get around in once the radiation calms down in 1,000+ years and they can go outside again.. the thought of that literally rattles me to my core.

    Thankyou for bringing this to our attention, I'll look for insurance companies that offer such a service.

    • 3
    • try2bhelpful on 03/05/2022 - 15:55

      Thank-you. Was a great laugh.

      • 1
  • Drj55 on 02/05/2022 - 08:24

    Don't most insurers also exclude any damage as part of a "war"? That exclusion above would also exclude you for nuclear reactor meltdown (if we had one in Oz).

    • 2
    • Carmen Sandiego on 03/05/2022 - 08:03

      It depends on the policy and the Insurer but yes, most policies have a war exclusion

      • 0
  • hasher22 on 03/05/2022 - 00:41

    I used to work for for a short time in Mobile insurance. There are interesting exclusions and inclusions

    For example:
    - Fire is not covered but melting or lava damage is
    - Space debris is covered (a meteor hits your phone) but falling airplane parts are not.

    • 2
  • bdl on 03/05/2022 - 23:45

    Not great, not terrible

    • 2
  • Xyzzy on 01/05/2022 - 12:36

    Why do they bother to delineate on the fission/fusion point?

    Hydrogen bombs start with the same fission reaction that powers atomic bombs. And then the fusion kicks in. So if your car is wiped out by an hydrogen bomb, you're not covered.

    • 1
    • aleph1 on 01/05/2022 - 13:14

      Yes, I was wondering if they'd use that as a technicality, catch all… why not just specify "nuclear device" though.

      • 0
      • aileron on 01/05/2022 - 14:09

        All devices are “nuclear” devices if you think about it. Just most of them have nothing to do with being fissile

        • 7
      • prisonmike on 01/05/2022 - 16:57

        Future transportation could use small fission reactor (like mars rovers). I wonder how well this clause will stand in the insurance marketplace then.

        • 3
  • PR0r on 01/05/2022 - 14:05

    house insurance will be the least of your worries in such an event

    • 1
  • Noblejoker on 02/05/2022 - 14:24

    Nearly every policy for every risk has some variation of this War/Nuclear exclusion - I am in the industry
    As others have pointed out your car is no big deal - however if Vlad bombs your house you would lose your major asset
    Maybe that's why Mad max is a drifter …

    • 1
    • Carmen Sandiego on 03/05/2022 - 07:58

      I also work in the industry and I love finding these little weird add on's - makes sense on a Business Pack/ISR, less on a motor.

      • 0
    • Kangal on 03/05/2022 - 14:12

      Maybe that's why Mad max is a drifter …

      Isn't it because the old Falcon's are RWD and don't have Stability Control?

      • 0
      • serpserpserp on 05/05/2022 - 10:19

        The only reason he drives a falcon

        • 1
  • Shame on 02/05/2022 - 22:06
    • Nuclear fission only bomb e.g. Hiroshima ~15kt:
      Stage 1: fission only
    • Nuclear "fusion" hydrogen bomb e.g. Tsar Bomba 50MT or Teller–Ulam dial a yield 0.2kt to 100kt:
      Stage 1: fission
      Stage 2: fusion (conversion to fusion material first via neutron bombardment from previous step)
      Stage 3: fission of shell casing (conversion to fission material first via neutron bombardment from previous step)
    • Neutron bomb or EMP weapon:
      Stage 1: fission
      Stage 2: fusion (conversion to fusion material first via neutron bombardment from previous step)
      Stage 3: None- release of massive amounts of neutrons for neutron bombs or x-rays in the case of EMP weapons

    Most of the energy for "fusion" bombs comes from stage 3 which is fission so maybe AAMI just know their stuff? In the neutron bomb/EMP case there won't be much property destruction so you most likely won't be able to make a claim

    • 1
    • nigel deborah on 03/05/2022 - 09:46

      Is that true? I know it's the case for the extremely large bombs (such as Tsar Bomba), but I thought most modern weapons intended to be delivered by ICBM did not include a third fission stage.

      Hard to know when all the designs are so classified, but no third stage fission fuel listed here for the American W88.

      • 0
      • Shame on 03/05/2022 - 10:06

        Think we're both right…
        "Most bombs do not apparently have tertiary "stages"—that is, third compression stage(s), which are additional fusion stages compressed by a previous fusion stage. (The fissioning of the last blanket of uranium, which provides about half the yield in large bombs, does not count as a "stage" in this terminology.)

        • 0
        • nigel deborah on 03/05/2022 - 10:48

          I read that, but think it's referring to a 3-stage fission-fusion-fusion bomb (sounds horrible), which is something different.

          Might be that all bombs have a vessel made of fissile material, but in smaller ones it's not a significant part of the yield/design? Possibly just included because they might as well, rather than using an inert material. Not sure… I only that know from an efficiency point of view, fissile material produces a lot less yield for the weight so my assumption was that they would use as little as is required to initiate the fusion reaction, especially in something as weight sensitive as an ICBM.

          Spent longer than I should have trying to figure it out, but even most the cold war era designs are still totally classified. I could only find generic/unclear designs. Either way, I think insurance is going to be the lease of our concerns in that case, haha.

          • 0
  • No ONE on 03/05/2022 - 13:42

    Op:

    You are not covered ….Insurance Policy for Damage during Nuclear War

    Priorities!
    you better hope, you are:

    1- alive when that happens
    2- the insurance company is not already bankrupt

    • 1
  • typhoonadventure on 03/05/2022 - 19:37

    So going to throw out the tafe clause.

    It got it's name in SA because you'd always see signs up at tafe at regency / tea tree gully tafe before the libs sacked it that would leave your head scratching.

    The signs would denote outlawing or recomending you not do various things that you were sure had to be joke and low and behold it turned out that where was some whacky or tragic story behind why the signs were put up and most of the time it was to cover their asses legally.

    One of said signs was telling people not to use a toilet by standing on it…. another was about not using a skateboard on the stairs, another was about operating on 240v powered circuitry, another about throwing babies.

    Well… some crazy woman apparantly tried to throw a small child to another person at the childcare center, a guy in electrotech stuck a screwdriver into a live 240v circuit and nearly died, a guy tried to skateboard down the stairs at tea tree gully to the south carpark, and the multiple, multiple don't stand on the toilet seat signs as we've been told by the poor guards who had to provide first aid and rescue people who have injured themselves using the toilets by standing up on them.

    Like no joke, even with the signs to this day I still know guards who are on duty and get injury callouts and report writeups, investigations etc where someone has become injured from standing on a toilet seat.

    So why would I reference these? It's entirely possible these were put in as a joke but in my entire career in the security, investigations and compliance sector i've seen cases where items you'd never think of having things you'd never think of happening to them, i'm talking to a point you have a hazmat crew come out and even they're like dude wtf.

    A lot of these companies have to also think of worst case scenarios, but even local idiot stories we've had items that have had biohazard / radioactive material exposure such as junkies stealing cars and raiding places for narcotics where a car has been found dumped and we've called it in and in the vehicle is littered with things that give you willies and next thing you know you've got hazmat being called in to make sure anyone can even come near the thing (once had a dude rob a bensons thinking they'd have drugs there and stole a ton of medical gear that all turned out to have radioactive components so the police got hazmat out to help not only safety it but workout whateven to do from there).

    I can honestly see this stemming from that time the junkie robbed the radiology lab and made his get away in a stolen government toyota corolla before dumping it in a carpark.

    • 1
    • Carmen Sandiego on 04/05/2022 - 08:02

      100% the case in Insurance - it doesn't exists until some "person" got into the scenario and they had to write something up about it

      • 1
      • typhoonadventure on 04/05/2022 - 17:20

        I bought this up at work today and it got bought up that back when chubb existed and were doing military security (I dont know how long ago this was i'd imagine ages ago) they were doing base security at many military sites including the woomera prohibited zone.

        Long story short througha chaotic series of events and either vehicles got taken and left in an area they shouldn't have been or items were collected from an area that shouldn't have been and long story short, when it was discovered, they had to go into full decontamination and the vehicles were pretty much written off.

        • 1
        • Carmen Sandiego on 05/05/2022 - 08:45

          That would do it!

          Insurance inclusions and exclusions, as well as some city laws, are honestly one of the funniest things to read because something like that has had to have happened for them to demand to include it.

          Glad you found out the scenario for this! Thank you for sharing :)

          • 0
          • typhoonadventure on 05/05/2022 - 09:55

            @Carmen Sandiego: It's left field but i'm already aware of a home and contents provider who now have a clause for deliberate biohazard incidents (yes most of you likely know about this one now).

            And that all happened because of the rise of Poo Joggers…

            • 1
  • CharityCase on 04/05/2022 - 08:20

    Peter Dutton warned us to get prepared for war, that includes nuclear war I guess, better start checking my car insurance now…

    • 1
    • Bigsta on 04/05/2022 - 20:07

      Yeah i thought that was the war Dutton was going to declare on Australia though

      • 1
  • USER DC on 01/05/2022 - 15:47

    man the real question that moment will be is the insurane company's employee's even going to be alive at that time when the explosion happened ? If no employee then who the heck is going to process your claim ? no one, even if they process your claim, how will bank system work ? without manual checks and authorizations etc ? or insurance is gonna pay you by bitcoin or something then ?

    Are they even gonna rock up to work given the situation like doomsday etc, if that was me, I'd be trying to collect lead from anywhere and, trying to grow food from non contaminated soil and water in bunkers etc,
    and hoard on non contaminated stuff to eat/drink, and on fuel too.

    • 0
    • pjetson on 02/05/2022 - 09:17

      is gonna pay you by bitcoin

      Bitcoin won't even exist without electricity or computers.

      • 0
      • Kangal on 03/05/2022 - 14:09

        Back to hand-jobs in the back alley then?

        • 0
  • ozbargainsam on 01/05/2022 - 19:40

    Okay so we're covered by anti-matter bombs, or Dr. Manhattan-caused events.

    (Coincidentally, I was just reading the PDS not long ago and noticed the same thing)

    • 0
  • saltypete on 02/05/2022 - 13:29

    War aside, it gives an out if Lucas Heights has a woopsie, or some types of medical waste affect you. Or radon from naturally occurring minerals.
    Or if you are shot with a projectile made from depleted uranium.
    Or most likely of all - collateral damage from a Putin Pollonium Poison Performance.
    Somethings gumnna get you eventually, no point stressing…😎

    • 0
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