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Calling all Ghostbusters

Jul 24 2009

What do horse dentists, historical re-enactors and paranormal investigators all have in common? According to insurance firm Hiscox they are part of a growing trend in quirky businesses.

The firm says it has seen a 19 per cent uplift in people taking out insurance cover for alternative professions over the past year.

Sam Franks, small business insurance expert at Hiscox UK, says that a rise in unusual start-ups could be attributed to the economy. ‘One theory is that because times have changed people are now setting up businesses in areas they have always felt passionate about and want to pursue,’ he says.

Other new businesses Hiscox has seen take out insurance over the last year include bugging device sweepers, lie detector testers and animal nutrition consultants.

Hiscox says it now covers approximately 14,000 ‘unusual’ SMEs.

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