Insurance claims are no laughing matter but I have found some funny claims that have occurred that will leave you laughing, and probably scratching your head. First, here are some one-liners that are pretty funny. They involve automobile claims. I found them on www.businessball.com
“I was driving along the freeway when the police pulled me over onto the shoulder. Unfortunately, I was in the middle lane and there was another car in the way.”
“Going to work at 7 a.m. one morning, I drove out of my driveway straight into a bus. The bus was five minutes early.”
“I pulled away from the side of the road, glanced at my mother-in-law and headed over the embankment.”
“I thought my window was down, but I found it was up when I put my head through it.”
“No one was to blame for the accident, but it would never have happened if the other driver had been alert”
Next, I found some interesting claims, which show you what a crazy world we live in. And what some people try to get away with.
Carla Smith tried to sue a Cracker Barrel restaurant for a $500,000 insurance settlement after “discovering” a mouse in her vegetable soup. The national chain investigated further and found that the mouse had no soup in its lungs and therefore had not been cooked. The jury believed that the only way the mouse could have appeared in the soup is if she had put it there. Carla received a one-year prison sentence. Yeah, for justice!
A lawyer from North Carolina purchased a box of expensive cigars and insured them against flooding, storm damage and fire damage. Needless to say, his investment went up in smoke within a month. The lawyer filed a claim with his homeowners insurance company stating that he was owed compensation because “the cigars were lost in a series of small fires.” The insurer refused to pay, assuming that the man had smoked them himself. A judge ruled, however, that since the insurer had never stated what was considered to be “unacceptable” fire, the company did owe him $15,000 to replace his property. The insurance company paid the claim. However, the lawyer was then arrested for arson and insurance fraud!
A 72-year-old lady, Olga, was the queen of the slip-and-fall scam. She fell in department stores, supermarkets and liquor stores forty-nine times during her career. Prosecutors said that she treated insurance claims like her job. She pleaded guilty and was placed under four-year sentence under house arrest. These gems I found on www.listverse.com.
Lastly, I found the following worker compensation claims.
A Circuit City employee filed a worker compensation claim after fracturing his hip while trying to shake loose a bag of chips from a break room vending machine. Apparently, the vending machine was several years old. An arbitrator ruled in his favor because he was “injured while coming to the aid of a female co-worker.” He was trying to impress her!
Mary was walking to her garage when she tripped over her dog and broke her wrist. However, Mary worked as a decorator for a department store and since she was going out to the garage to retrieve some fabric she had temporarily stored there, this technically made her home a “work environment.” She was awarded compensation.
Lara was in the break room when she mistakenly drank from the wrong cup. For reasons that were never explained, the cup contained lye. Lara suffered third degree burns to her esophagus. She was compensated. Remember to always label all chemicals in your plant.
Lastly, Barry worked at a zoo. He was a bear feeder. One morning Barry smoked a lot of weed before going to work. Ultimately, a bear bit off half of Barry’s behind before Barry was able to get out of the way. Despite the fact that a written statement referred to Barry’s choice to mix weed and grizzly bears as “mind bogglingly stupid,” he was awarded $65,000 to cover his medical expenses.
I hope this gave you a few chuckles. The worker compensation claims, I hope gave you some food for thought. Sometimes the courts make ridiculous decisions. We need to be proactive in our businesses in the hope of avoiding some of these stupid claims.
Happy Earth Day!
