Far out Friday: Britain’s bizarre insurance claims

And just when you thought the world couldn't get any stranger, someone received a payout for a snail...

Insurance News

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If there is any country that can match the strange insurance cases we have been covering in this Friday segment, it is the United Kingdom. 

For instance, insurance provider RIAS has given payouts to British citizens for such things as a badger gnawing its way out of a shed, a snail munching through a carpet and a baby vomiting on a laptop. 

The top 10 most bizarre British reasons for claiming on a policy according to RIAS, in no particular order (we’ll leave that up to you), are as follows: 

1.    A 71 year old woman from Bath locked a badger in her shed, leading to the badger smashing a hole in the wall to escape. 
2.    A dog in Galashiels attempted to chase a fellow dog it saw, the only issue was the dog was on TV. The screen was destroyed. 
3.    An aware child attempted to clean up a glass of coke he had spilled on his grandfather’s laptop… drying the keys with a hairdryer. They melted. £239 payout ($386). 
4.    A proud grandfather in Guildford was presenting his grandson to a friend via Skype. When he raised the child up the baby proceeded to throw up all over the laptop. £437 payout ($705). 
5.    On a blustery day the wind blew a man’s glasses off, which were then immediately ran over by an oncoming car. £469 payout ($757). 
6.    A vicious squirrel trapped in an old woman’s garage in Exeter smashed out a window to escape. 
7.    An emaciated snail munched down £78 ($126) worth of carpet in a man’s home in Preston. 
8.    In a Harry Potter-esque scenario (only a pigeon instead of an owl), a pigeon flew down a chimney into an innocent bystanders house. Damages to the carpets, ornaments and sofa equated to more than £8,000 ($12,915).  
9.    The living room of a family in Cardiff was destroyed by a 7 month old puppy that confiscated a bottle of oil, bite a hole in it and then proceeded to drag it into the aforementioned room. £953 worth of damages ($1539). 
10.    Finally, a hot deer jumped into a man’s swimming pool in Guildford, destroying the cover. 

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