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'Home insurance policies cover falling space debris', says AA

By Marianne Straker, Mon 26 Sep 2011 - Published in Home Insurance

Debris from falling satellites that could potentially damage people's dwellings should be covered by their home insurance policy, according to the AA.

The warning came after news that a satellite the size of a double-decker bus was set to crash to earth over the weekend.

According to NASA, the decommissioned Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite's debris re-entered the earth's atmosphere in the early hours of Saturday morning with the vast majority of its orbital transit over water.

Simon Douglas, director of AA Insurance, said: "The cost of damage would be met from the ‘impact damage' section of a typical home buildings insurance policy and if your car was hit, that would be covered by your comprehensive policy too."

He added that under the Space Liability Convention of 1976 the state that launches a space vehicle is responsible for any damage caused by space debris.

However, Mr Douglas noted that this type of damage rarely occurs with many of the devices hitting water rather than land.