5 Whacky Insurance Claims From Around the World

We all invest in insurance policies because we have something to protect. Whether it’s our home, the latest electronics or even our lives, we pay a fair chunk of money just to ensure that if we were to lose or break those things, we’d be able to get some compensation back. However, as honest as most of us are with our claims, some people can’t resist the temptation of making an insurance claim on some ridiculous things.

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A for arson

Tramesha Lashon Fox was a high school chemistry teacher that taught in Aldine. She was three months behind on her car payments so she thought up a “brilliant” plan to resolve the issue. She spoke to two students in her class who had failing grades and offered them a deal: torch her car and she’d give them passing grades. Needless to say, the plan failed and she was unsuccessful in her insurance claim. Sadly, she was also jailed for arson and was banned from ever teaching again.

Skype stage fright

All the way in England, a proud grandfather once held his baby grandson up to the laptop in order to show his friend on Skype. As he held the baby, they vomited all over the laptop, getting it caught between the keys and damaging the internals as it seeped into the hardware. He successfully made a claim and received a brand new laptop worth £437 ($545) as compensation. Perhaps the baby just doesn’t like being on camera?

Hail on earth

If you live in a state such as Texas or Colorado, then you’re probably no stranger to hail damage. In fact, they’re so powerful that they can punch massive holes in your home or even your car! Without a professional firm for hail damage insurance claims to back you up, you’re going to be paying a lot in repairs. Just don’t make the mistake that one man did back in the 90s. Block and Hyland Insurance received a claim from a man who claimed his car was battered by hail. His claim was ultimately unsuccessful, as the damage was discovered to have been made by a hammer and a nail, not hail!

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Alone in the dark

A British farmer found himself moving cows across his farm late at night. Due to the lack of light, he was forced to his a torch app on his smartphone in order to see where he was going. Sadly, it somehow got lost in the rear end of one of his cows and he was forced to make a claim. Although it sounds ridiculous, the claim was accepted and the farmer received full compensation for his phone.

Killer house

Due to some unfortunate accidents, a farm owner’s house burned down so he made his first claim to get a new one. However, a couple of weeks in, he noticed that insects would regularly come into the house and die as soon as they approached the basement. Upon further investigation, the farmer remembered that he had been storing pesticides in the basement, and during the fire, it dissolved into the concrete of the basement and created a toxic environment that was harmful to everything. Another claim was made, the house was demolished, and he received yet another home—this time including the basement.