weirdest-insurance-claims-in-2016

When the most you can say about 2016 is that it was an alright year, it’s time to lighten up with a few tales of insurance mayhem. Here are just a few of the strangest occurrences that may have caused an insurance agent to reconsider their life, and look at their choices.

1. Man’s house becomes car magnet. Mr. Ray Minter of San Jose, has lived in the same house since the 1950s, and since he has moved in his house has been hit by cars 19 different times. Four of these cars have actually ended up inside the house.

2. The roof, the roof, the roof is… stolen? Imagine leaving for work in the morning, and then coming home to find that all the shingles on your roof have been stolen down to the underlayment. This was the case with one Albuquerque homeowner. Though the roof was reported as stolen, it may have been a mistaken address that led to the puzzling occurrence.

3. Have it your way. A prank caller persuaded employees of a Burger King in Coon Rapids, Minnesota that due to rising gas pressure within the building they needed to immediately bust out all the windows. The caller sounded professional and conversant enough with fire suppression systems that he was taken seriously. He told the employees that the windows had to be broken out in order to avert an explosion. They obeyed. Authorities are still seeking the identity of the mystery caller.

4. The frozen north. From time to time airplanes will develop leaks in their sewage systems that result in the phenomenon known as blue ice. Though rare, these occurrences occasionally result in mysteries for homeowners, as the ice is known to evaporate on impact. This leaves nothing but a hole, a headache for the homeowner, and a lot of leg work for the insurance agent as they try to prove where the large hole in the house came from.

5. The customer is always… scary. A dollar store in Kent, Washington learned the hard way not to run out of shopping carts. Linda Poplawski announced her disappointment that there were no available shopping carts, proceeded to leave while announcing her intention to shop elsewhere. She returned shortly thereafter, and proceeded to set fire to the greeting card section. The fire spread to a number of adjacent businesses, and she was arrested shortly thereafter.

6. Finally, for anyone who ever dealt with a less than socially conscious parking job, here’s a little schadenfreude. A man out for the night in Paris parked his leased Porsche in a space reserved for taxicabs, and after having too much to drink ended up taking a taxi home. However, police being suspicious of the car in its location, called in the bomb squad – you can see the result here.

Remember, when things get weird, it’s a good idea to call your insurance agent. We are here to help and get you back to normal quickly. Hopefully, the only thing you’ll ever have is a really good story to tell.