Dear Friend,

Ultimately all of us in the reinsurance sector are in the business of paying claims of all sizes and descriptions.

And scanning through the London Times this morning I’ve found a particularly strange claims story. Apparently a young French student at Edinburgh University who was also a keen amateur psychic inadvertently caused a fire at his lodgings in the most bizarre way.

It seems the crystal ball he had left on his widow sill funnelled and focused the watery Scottish sunlight so effectively that it set fire to a pile of washing and started a blaze that destroyed his apartment and those of two unfortunate neighbours.

I bet he didn’t see that one coming!

And with tropical storm Irene moving incredibly slowly towards a possible rendez-vous with Washington DC or even New York City it is always good to remind ourselves that in this business anything is possible