The most bizarre insurance claims received

Thursday August 17

It's not unusual for motor insurance companies to receive claims that are obviously a little exaggerated and possibly even made up, but when Norwich Union put together a list of the most bizarre claims it received last year, we couldn't have made it up for ourselves!

Most freak accidents are caused by animals of one type or another and not just your average household cat or dog running across a road neither; squirrels, zebras, cows and even wasps all feature in the top ten list of bizarre claims.

Items of food are the second biggest cause of unusual car insurance claims and though vegetables lodging themselves under your brake pedal is a very serious matter, we couldn't help but snigger when we heard about the escape of the frozen kebab...

In tenth spot: "As I came over a hill, I hit a cow in the middle of the road, which then hit the bonnet and shattered the windscreen with its rear end." Before we go any further it should be noted that the cow involved in this incident actually survived the ordeal. Something tells me though that the car may not have. Hitting a large animal, be it a cow or deer, is always going to be a traumatic experience (for driver and animal alike), but the resulting damage will write most cars off.

Another cow is implicated in ninth place, with the simple but effective "A cow jumped on my quad bike". If you're a fan of Gary Larson cartoons you'll already have an image in your head of the cow speeding off into the sunset on some hapless human's quad-bike, with a little red helmet bouncing up and down on his head! What is unclear though is whether the claim was for theft or accidental damage. After all, how many cows do you know that can drive a quad-bike competently?

Number eight on the list involves yet another cow, though this time the male of the species: "My parked car was hit by a bull which had escaped from an agricultural show". If the car really was parked, as the insured claimed, then it is likely that the call centres of several insurers were buzzing with this one and the traditional catchphrase "bull in a china shop" could have been changed forever to the far more expensive contents of an agricultural show car park.

Food starts causing trouble at number seven on the list with nothing more troublesome than your common garden potato. However, as the claim stated; "I couldn't brake because a potato was logged behind the brake" this innocent-looking root vegetable can cause a nasty accident. No doubt the driver thought that the shopping was stowed away safely, but this evil potato found a way out, and then cunningly burrowed under the driver's seat, between the driver's legs and next thing you know you're apologising to the guy in front for rear-ending him. Could happen to anyone. I'm surprised we haven't heard of a supermarket chain being sued for insubstantially secured shopping bags.

Picture number six happening and you have to admit it's a funny image: "While I was waiting at traffic lights, a wasp went down my trouser leg which made me hit the accelerator and prang the car in front". That's straight out of a Chevy Chase movie, though in his case the driver in front would be a big and angry body builder. I don't know about you, but given the choice of a wasp down my trousers or a little 'discussion' with a human out-house, I think I'd take my chances that the latter can see the funny side of things.

In fifth place: "A zebra collided with my car when I was at a safari park". Ah come on, a zebra can't just collide with a car by mistake! They're not like shopping trolleys after all, and most animals will do their best to get away from a car full of people. This has to be one of those claims the insurance company knows not to be true, yet can't exactly question the zebra.

Those troublesome herbivores are back in action in fourth place: "A herd of cows licked my car and caused damage to the paintwork". You learn something new every day; apparently a cow's tongue is rough enough to scratch the normally strong surface of a car's paintwork. Did they think it was a big cow lollipop or something? No prizes for guessing the colour of the car.

Though only number three on Norwich Union's list, this is my personal favourite: "As I was driving round a bend, when one of the doors opened and a frozen kebab flew out, hitting and damaging a passing car". Dodgy grammar aside, that claim raises more eyebrows than the average Carry On movie. First of all, how did the door just open? Secondly, what the hell is a frozen kebab?

Number two: "The car was parked when a reindeer fell on the bonnet of my car". I know that this probably happened in another safari park, though again the animal is not very likely to be at fault, but am I the only one to have pictured one of Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer's friends kicking the bucket mid-air and tumbling down onto the unfortunate claimant's bonnet?

Finally, the winning claim is "A frozen squirrel fell out of a tree and crashed through the windscreen on to the passenger seat". What's with the frozen items? Very suspect. Must have been a cold winter.

So remember folks, keep your eyes peeled for any rogue wildlife or foodstuffs, particularly of the frozen variety...