Life in 2006

It was inevitable that when those jolly Rogers from Bollington ended up on the front cover they would also end up here at the back of the class again, having been stalwart contributors to Overheard with their beer-fuelled antics during the course of 2006. For that Overheard salutes you, many thanks gents. In this instance, Stephen Wall was not so much drink-soaked as just soaked, as after collecting a brand new TVR Sagaris it broke down within 10 miles of the dealership. After pushing it out of the fast lane of the M62, Wall called the showroom to gently point out that TVR ownership was currently failing expectations. However, due to the torrential rain, his phone drowned before he could finish his conversation with the salesman. Standing by the car on the hard shoulder, Wall, who had just returned from holiday, was by this time shut out because the central locking had also packed up. He was therefore ill-prepared to defend himself from a great British downpour being armed only with a Hawaiian shirt, Bermuda shorts and sandals. There is a happy end to the story, however, as, in the lingering spirit of good will to all men and after serious consideration, Professional Broking's editor is prepared to offer, in exchange for Wall's drastically styled temperamental plastic car, his own personal, fully paid for and fault free Rover 600 - including full liability for any towing charges incurred during the transfer.

It's good to see businesses and communities assessing risk properly. However, at the time of writing one Christmas party, due to take place in a Yorkshire village, was in jeopardy pending a full risk assessment being carried out on the mince pies. Council bosses, who told organisers that their festivities would be cancelled if they did not comply, also insisted that placards be clearly displayed to warn villagers the pies may contain nuts, suet and pastry. In addition, the cocoa content and temperature of the hot chocolate being checked was also a prerequisite of the party going ahead. Now there is a truly niche opportunity in waiting for the lateral thinking broker.

While for some organising simple things may prove unnecessarily taxing, for others life appears to be a more pleasant and cooperative affair. So it would seem for Norwich Union big cheese Patrick Snowball after NU changed its company mobile phone provider. When Snowball was unable to obtain a signal from the new network at his country pad, within days a new mobile mast discretely appeared unobtrusively in field near his residence. It's nice when things work out isn't it. Snowball was also spotted on the party circuit over Christmas. At the Swinton do, a veritable who's who of general insurance, Snowball was heard to claim Neil Utley had made all his money because of him "because I put motor rates up".