Insurance for a builder

Building Insurance For Friendly Elephant Damage?

Choosing where to build a home is a very personal choice. For Sam Baker, the perfect choice for him was a plot of land that just happened to be located right next door to a small petting zoo. As an animal lover, Sam enjoyed the idea of being able to take the grandchildren over to pet the animals on the weekends when they came to visit. He started construction on the house in the spring of 2010 with eager anticipation of the completed home.

Building Next To A Zoo

During the first few weeks of construction, Sam and his hired building crew managed to measure and dig the foundation. Next came the pouring of the concrete. During the work day, the zoo pets could be heard making various calls that made Sam stop and pop over for a visit. The zoo had 3 llamas, 6 goats, 2 tortoises, 4 peacocks, 4 sheep, 12 ducks and 2 very large elephants.

All of the animals were extremely friendly, especially the elephants. As the animals moved closer to Sam, he noticed how flimsy the zoo fencing looked and how it sagged against the weight of the curious animals that pressed against it to get closer to him. He hoped the zoo owner knew about it.

Sam Rents Temporary Fencing

Several weeks later, Sam found the peacocks loose on his property wandering in and out of the framed walls of the house. They had found a way out of the zoo fencing. Sam phoned the owner about the escaped animals and received a promise to come right out, patch the fence and collect the peacocks. Sam decided to rent some temporary fencing around the construction site in case the goats escaped and decided to help themselves to the building materials. Little did he know that it wouldn't be the goats who would be trying to eat his new house.

Friendly Elephants Can Mean Destruction Of Property

Another week passed on the construction of the new home. During breaks, Sam and the crew would wander over to the petting zoo to feed the animals scraps of food leftover from lunch. By this time, the elephants had grown attached to Sam and very, very attached to the food.

During the night, the elephants quietly broke down the fencing and made their way onto Sam's construction site looking for Sam and his tasty handouts. The next morning, all that was left of the unfinished wooden frames were splinters and piles of broken debris. In the morning, Sam and his crew found two very guilty looking pachyderms covered with sawdust and mud. The elephants had torn down the bare frames and demolished them.

Building Insurance Saves The Day

Luckily for Sam, he had a good builders insurance policy; you can get a UK one from here. He was able to recoup the loss of the damages done by the over zealous elephants. He completed his dream home and now takes the grandchildren to visit the petting zoo animals. Including the naughty elephants who pulled down the beams and tried to eat his house.