Top Ten Craziest Car Insurance Claims
Having your car broken into or bumped from behind can be a pretty upsetting experience, and certainly nothing to smile about when totting up your next car insurance premium. However, from time to time, insurers release claims that would raise a smile from even the sternest of risk assessors. Here are ten belters - and, just to remind you, every single one of these is a real claim!
10. Taxi cab fail
Our first car insurance corker is a case of what most of us would call �Sod's law'. AA Insurance told us the story of a businessman who, in severe ice and snow, decided it would be best to leave the motor at home; instead opting for a cab to the station.
Sensible decision, you might say. Not so when the taxi arrives, slides into the driveway and rams the same man's supposedly-safe carriage. Woops.
9. Horseplay
We've all been there - you're driving along, happily minding your own business, when a horse flies out of a hedge and square on to your bonnet.
No? Well that's what happened to one unfortunate punter, who, according to the Admiral Group, was stunned to find a large equine being leap "out of the bushes" and onto the front of the car.
8. The Great Escape
This one could have seen the loss of more than just a no-claims bonus. In the middle of a raging storm, one punter parks up and crosses the road, just in time to see a lightning-struck tree and surrounding wall smash on top of his beloved motor. A lucky escape indeed.
7. Butter wouldn't melt...
One of the odder stories was that of a woman claiming against a melted lump of butter on her passenger seat. The Admiral Group said that the policyholder was so embarrassed she allowed the seat to regress into a mouldy, buttery mess before the claim was made. Go figure.
6. The boot, the boot, the boot is on fire!
Another lucky escape here. A Zurich client took his �100,000 supercar for a spin after being away on business for a week. As the tank was low on fuel, he headed for the nearest petrol station.
Driving along, our man noticed a whiff of petrol, so opened the window to let some air in - only to notice a wave flashing and beeping from oncoming traffic. Suspecting that something was afoot, he pulled aside, only to realise that the back of the car was in flames. On arrival, the fire brigade advised that he was lucky to be alive, and could thank the lack of a Mad Max-style explosion on his nearly-empty fuel tank.
5. Hounded down
One Admiral Group policyholder received quite a shock when, quietly minding their own business, they were alerted to screams for help from the street.Bravely rushing out to help, the insured threw the front door open, only to find a clearly terrified man hopping on the roof of their car. All this, it transpired, to escape the attentions of a rather large dog pawing frantically at the bonnet. Whoever said they were man's best friend?
4. Along came a spider...
We've all got our fears and foibles, and many of us are terrified of one eight-legged creature in particular. However, few on this side of the world will have caused as much harm as the not-so-incy-wincy-spider that landed on one poor lady's steering wheel on the way home.
Frightened to the point of panic by the hairy intruder, she veered wildly and into an oncoming third party.
3.The magic flying carpet
Planning a visit to the tip, one customer ties his old, battered carpet to the roof rack. Turning a corner, he brakes sharply as he realises he's reached a traffic jam. At this point the carpet duly flies off the roof and through the back window of the van in front - whose driver whizzes off totally unawares. Saves that trip to the dump, I suppose.
2. Feeling sheepish?
Animals (and arthropods) have played a starring role on this list, and our second favourite story of the lot is one of an unsuspecting driver being stunned by a flying sheep.
Coming out from under a bridge, the insured was jolted by the sound of a large thud, and then by the rather terrifying sight of a large woolly creature rolling down the windscreen.
As unfortunate incidents go, this is right up there. A sheep-bearing lorry on the overpass had swerved, spilling one unfortunate dolly over the edge and on to the chassis of our bewildered AA claimant.
1. Dogs drive in hot cars
You know what they always say about never leaving your dog in the car for long periods? Well one AA claimant was left with more than just a guilty feeling after leaving Fido in the front seat...
After nipping to the shop to get a paper, our man got out to find his car vanished. After beseeching passers-by for information, one dry customer calmly remarked: �Ah yes... I saw a dog driving it down that hill'.
As it turns out, his beloved companion had climbed into the driver's seat, catching its leash on the gearstick in turn. Result: Said dog �drives' downhill and rams into a row of parked cars. Chaos and confusion ensues.
-- Fianlly, for those looking car insurance online then try a comparison website to get a cheap car insurance quote. Source: http://www.articletrader.com
10. Taxi cab fail
Our first car insurance corker is a case of what most of us would call �Sod's law'. AA Insurance told us the story of a businessman who, in severe ice and snow, decided it would be best to leave the motor at home; instead opting for a cab to the station.
Sensible decision, you might say. Not so when the taxi arrives, slides into the driveway and rams the same man's supposedly-safe carriage. Woops.
9. Horseplay
We've all been there - you're driving along, happily minding your own business, when a horse flies out of a hedge and square on to your bonnet.
No? Well that's what happened to one unfortunate punter, who, according to the Admiral Group, was stunned to find a large equine being leap "out of the bushes" and onto the front of the car.
8. The Great Escape
This one could have seen the loss of more than just a no-claims bonus. In the middle of a raging storm, one punter parks up and crosses the road, just in time to see a lightning-struck tree and surrounding wall smash on top of his beloved motor. A lucky escape indeed.
7. Butter wouldn't melt...
One of the odder stories was that of a woman claiming against a melted lump of butter on her passenger seat. The Admiral Group said that the policyholder was so embarrassed she allowed the seat to regress into a mouldy, buttery mess before the claim was made. Go figure.
6. The boot, the boot, the boot is on fire!
Another lucky escape here. A Zurich client took his �100,000 supercar for a spin after being away on business for a week. As the tank was low on fuel, he headed for the nearest petrol station.
Driving along, our man noticed a whiff of petrol, so opened the window to let some air in - only to notice a wave flashing and beeping from oncoming traffic. Suspecting that something was afoot, he pulled aside, only to realise that the back of the car was in flames. On arrival, the fire brigade advised that he was lucky to be alive, and could thank the lack of a Mad Max-style explosion on his nearly-empty fuel tank.
5. Hounded down
One Admiral Group policyholder received quite a shock when, quietly minding their own business, they were alerted to screams for help from the street.Bravely rushing out to help, the insured threw the front door open, only to find a clearly terrified man hopping on the roof of their car. All this, it transpired, to escape the attentions of a rather large dog pawing frantically at the bonnet. Whoever said they were man's best friend?
4. Along came a spider...
We've all got our fears and foibles, and many of us are terrified of one eight-legged creature in particular. However, few on this side of the world will have caused as much harm as the not-so-incy-wincy-spider that landed on one poor lady's steering wheel on the way home.
Frightened to the point of panic by the hairy intruder, she veered wildly and into an oncoming third party.
3.The magic flying carpet
Planning a visit to the tip, one customer ties his old, battered carpet to the roof rack. Turning a corner, he brakes sharply as he realises he's reached a traffic jam. At this point the carpet duly flies off the roof and through the back window of the van in front - whose driver whizzes off totally unawares. Saves that trip to the dump, I suppose.
2. Feeling sheepish?
Animals (and arthropods) have played a starring role on this list, and our second favourite story of the lot is one of an unsuspecting driver being stunned by a flying sheep.
Coming out from under a bridge, the insured was jolted by the sound of a large thud, and then by the rather terrifying sight of a large woolly creature rolling down the windscreen.
As unfortunate incidents go, this is right up there. A sheep-bearing lorry on the overpass had swerved, spilling one unfortunate dolly over the edge and on to the chassis of our bewildered AA claimant.
1. Dogs drive in hot cars
You know what they always say about never leaving your dog in the car for long periods? Well one AA claimant was left with more than just a guilty feeling after leaving Fido in the front seat...
After nipping to the shop to get a paper, our man got out to find his car vanished. After beseeching passers-by for information, one dry customer calmly remarked: �Ah yes... I saw a dog driving it down that hill'.
As it turns out, his beloved companion had climbed into the driver's seat, catching its leash on the gearstick in turn. Result: Said dog �drives' downhill and rams into a row of parked cars. Chaos and confusion ensues.
-- Fianlly, for those looking car insurance online then try a comparison website to get a cheap car insurance quote. Source: http://www.articletrader.com