Zombies have taken over pop culture already. Now smart insuranceagents want to prepare for where zombies will gonext.

More than 6.5 million Americans tuned in for Sunday's midseasonpremiere of “The Walking Dead,” a story of humans in apost-apocalyptic zombie world. But for many zombie buffs, notcontent to follow Rick Grimes through any real-lifezom-pocalypse, a new option is available: zombie insurance.

A similar young zombie enthusiast, Sam Cooper, created My ZombieInsurance 3 years ago for this very reason. MZI was the first successful venture of its kind. Theidea was simple: cheap policies, total coverage—in the event of azombie apocalypse.

“Each year,” MZI states, “millions of dollars in personalproperty is damaged by hordes of zombies. And yet, regularinsurance companies don't deal with these claims.”

My Zombie Insurance—a company owned by the registered U.S.limited liability company Zombie Protection Agency—sells anumbrella policy covering home, life and auto. One $9.99 PayPaltransaction purchases a lifetime policy. Orders take 2 to 3 days toprocess, after which an insurance card and policy certificate comein the mail. Claims may be submitted following any zombie-relatedattack, but there's a cap at $100,000 for home, $500,000 for lifeand $30,000 for vehicles.

Of course, MZI customers worldwide knowthe policies aren't real. In fact, the MZI website states that itis not selling real insurance, but rather lightheartedentertainment. But this hasn't slowed sales.

“None of this is about the money,” saidJune Cooper, head of customer service for MZI and mother of thesite's creator. “We keep it super cheap so that anyone who wants akit can have one and get in on the joke.”

Even in a soft insurance market, zombiepolicies are growing rapidly in number. According to June, 2011 wasMZI's busiest year. And though the company keeps its annual revenuestatements private, it has sold thousands of policies so far.

In the world of zom-surance, MZI'ssuccess has driven competition. Though My Zombie Insurance stillseems to rein king of zombie safeguards, two youngercompanies–ZAICO andEighth Day International–are close behind.

ZombieApocalypse Insurance Co., or ZAICO, has more than 1,450 memberssigned up through its website, though not all have purchasedpolicies, according to Penelope Luedtke, ZAICO founder and CEO.Compared to last year, the company's 2011 sales quadrupled.

“It's a fun and inexpensive way to say'I really care about you,'” Luedtke said.

For less than $20, ZAICO provides manyservices including arms replacement and ammunition restocking,medical treatment, home repair, family relocation, vehiclereplacement or repair and zombie incineration. Again, ZAICOcustomers must accept a statement acknowledging that the company isa parody, for entertainment purposes only.

Eighth Day International has gone another route,providing survival assurance. “Be protected, not infected,” itswebsite says. For $5, Eighth Day International provides ZombiePandemic Survivor Assurance, providing the insureds a spot in asafe zone upon the day of reckoning—provided they have properidentification.

It remains to be seen which of thesecompanies will survive when the real zom-pocalypse hits—and fromthere, whether they can survive the wrath of the uninsuredzombies.