Sobering thoughts about a claim

But there are other complaints which have been rejected which show that insurers will apply sanctions where alcohol has been involved. In one dispute, a holidaymaker put in a claim after he had been taken to hospital and then put on a flight home - after what he said was the adverse result of eating a prawn curry. The ombudsman backed the insurer's version that he had been suffering from five days of binge-drinking.

Less clear cut will be the impact on a claim for theft on holiday, where perhaps a bag has been stolen from a restaurant where the victims might have been drinking moderately.

In such cases, Alison Hoyland says there are "no hard and fast rules". The ombudsman would consider factors such as how much a part alcohol played in the loss and whether it might have occurred regardless of whether the victims were drinking.

And in general, she says, insurers cannot apply an all-round exclusion that does not take other "common sense" factors into account. Among the biggest threats to most people's finances is losing a job. If alcohol is the cause of being made redundant, then insurers are not going to be sympathetic.

Alcohol Concern says that the annual loss to the economy because of alcohol- related absenteeism and poor performance is £6.4bn.

Some companies now test staff for alcohol, including analysing snippets of hair. Alcohol Concern says this is happening particularly in workplaces where safety is a priority, or where dangerous machinery is being used.

Even though you might have all kinds of cover guarding against redundancy, from credit card payment protection to wedding insurance - none of these is likely to pay out if the reason for losing a job is alcohol abuse.

Don't think you'll be jumping the waiting lists with private medical insurance, either, because alcohol problems are treated as self- inflicted and so not covered.

And if you have to go to hospital because of an alcohol problem, it even negates your pet insurance. Philippa Gee says the argument behind this attitude is similar to home insurance - if you deliberately set fire to your home, you can't expect an insurer to pay for the damage.

So with alcohol. If you've deliberately induced a problem through excessive drinking, it's deemed to be your responsibility and not the insurer's. But we have a deeply ambiguous attitude towards alcohol - and when we read the insurance terms, it's like seeing those maximum recommended daily intakes.

We never really think they apply to us.