by Insurance is there to cover you for all of life’s mishaps and events. Whether your car is damaged in an accident or your geyser bursts at night, it’s comforting to know our service providers have our backs.
There are times, however, when insurance companies need to have a sense of humor and, whilst they try prepare for any type of claim thrown their way, it’s clear they never knew it would involve the below.
Here Are Five Of The Most Horrific Insurance Claims
1. And They Never Saw The iPhone Again … Until Much Later
Ivor Bennett’s insurance company sure never thought they’d hear a story quite like the following.
Bennett is a livestock farmer in Devon, United Kingdom and was assisting one of his cows giving birth one stormy, dark night when the iPhone he was using as a torch disappeared into … you guessed it.
While the phone did eventually make an appearance, it was clear the phone was too traumatised by its experience and gave up on the will to live – ironically.
The insurance company paid out the claim in full.
2. Professional Fraudster
Isabel Parker was the queen of the slip-and-fall scam which involved her pretending to slip and fall in department stores, supermarkets and liquor stores, only to claim from insurance.
She attempted this stunt 49 times in Philadelphia, Delaware, and New Jersey, and collected over $500 115 between the years of 1993 and 2000.
Parker later pleaded guilty to 29 counts of insurance fraud in New Jersey alone. She also admitted that her stunts were a byproduct of her severe gambling addiction.
She was sentenced to four years under house arrest.
3. “Waiter, There Is Something Floating In My Soup”
Well-known restaurant, Cracker Barrel was clearly not going to be taken for a ride when diner, Carla Patterson tried to sue the restaurant for finding a dead mouse in her vegetable soup.
The mouse was discovered in 2004, on Mother’s Day, and was followed by Patterson filing a $500 000 claim against the Southern-styled restaurant.
Upon investigation of the mouse, no soup was found in the rodent’s lungs, making it impossible to have been in the soup at the time of cooking. It was clear Patterson had placed the mouse there in a bid to receive money from the American franchise.
She was sentenced to a year in prison for conspiracy to commit extortion. She still, to this day, claims she did not put the mouse into her soup.
4. ‘Come On Baby, Light My Fire’
A bride’s blissful day came to a sudden halt when her hand-made wedding dress caught fire from an outdoor braai.
According to the report, the couple were married on a beach in Rimini, Italy, when the incident happened. Her husband rushed to her aid, scooped her up and … threw her in the sea.
Whilst it was clear she would be donning a new dress at her reception, the insurance claim still paid out 50% of the price of the gown.
5. Poof! There Goes That Theory
A man from North Carolina thought he had beat the system when he insured his expensive cigars against flooding, storm damage and … fire.
He claimed, later on, that his cigars had been damaged in a series of small fires in his home. Suffice it to say, that ploy went up in smoke and the insurer refused to pay, stating he had smoked the cigars himself.
But the judge didn’t quite see it the same way because, according to the policy taken out by the lawyer, the insurance company had failed to classify what was deemed “unacceptable fire”.
The insurance company was ordered to pay $15 000 to the man in order to replace his property. The insurer paid the claim and then had the lawyer arrested and convicted of arson and insurance fraud.
