7 Crazy Insurance Claims
Here are some crazy insurance claims that have resulted from the most unlikely and ridiculous situations. We hope you have a laugh and are glad these didn’t happen to you!
1. Woman in tiers after cake accident
In North Carolina, a woman lost her Nokia cellphone inside a cake. She had somehow baked it in her daughter’s birthday cake by accident and filed a claim for the damage—batter safe than sorry, I guess—nonetheless, her insurance company refused to compensate her.
2. One man’s trash is another man’s treasure, literally
A man in North Carolina always parked his motorcycle in the same spot with a black motorcycle cover to shield it from the elements. However, one morning his girlfriend discovered it was not there. After assuming it was stolen, they discovered it was, indeed, not stolen. That morning, the garbage collectors had come and taken it, as they mistook it for a “heavy couch.” The couple rushed to the town dump to discover the worst of the worst had happened: the motorcycle had been crushed in the trash compactor. After media coverage, the man decided not follow through with his claim due to the deductible, and the city compensated for his losses.
3. Ratatouille catastrophe
In 2004 in Virginia, a woman filed a claim against Cracker Barrel, stating that she discovered a mouse in her vegetable soup. During investigation, mousetrap and mouse feces were found in the woman’s home. Furthermore, there was no soup found in the mouse’s lungs and the body was uncooked; therefore, the rodent was not cooked with the food. The restaurant’s review of their procedures also proved that there was no way the rodent could have slipped into the meal, especially in one piece. It was determined that the whole incident was staged in attempt to extort a half million dollars from Cracker Barrel, and the woman was sentenced to a year in jail.
4. How a trunk ended up in the passenger seat
In the United Kingdom, a driver set down his lunch on the car seat next to him. Little did he know a traveling circus trailer would be parked beside his vehicle. A performing elephant spotted the man’s sandwich and went on his mission. Nothing stopped the trunk of the elephant from reaching the tasty little meal, not even the door panel he broke. The driver filed a claim and demanded for the circus to be held responsible.
5. An early Christmas surprise
Mr. Fairclough was driving home during the holidays when a Christmas tree came flying directly at his vehicle. The tree was poorly secured on the top of a car going the opposite way, which caused the tree to launch from the roof and create a dent in the hood of Fairclough’s car. Fairclough added, “The chap didn’t stop and he never came back for his tree, so the police said we might as well have it. It wasn’t funny at the time, but looking back it was like a comedy sketch!” His insurance company ended up paying him in full for the damage.
6. What the fox?
Late at night, a man was loading his vehicle with his household belongings in a trolley when he noticed two foxes emerging from the dark, approaching him in a “menacing manner.” The man went back inside his home and returned later to find that his portable DVD player and a few other electronic items were missing. The man concluded that the foxes must’ve stolen his property, but unfortunately, he did not receive any compensation from his insurance company.
7. Well, that Escaladed quickly!
In 2010, a man got his floor mats wet in his prized Porsche. He got the idea to use his leaf blower to dry the mats quickly, and he left the leaf blower running in his backseat with his Porsche parked in the garage while he went back into the house. Despite checking on his car periodically, he discovered the leaf blower had set his backseat on fire. To make things worse, the fire couldn’t be contained and swallowed not only his garage but his whole house. Ten fire trucks came to the fire, which resulted in around $1 million in losses.
