So you're not happy with your car. Ever wondered what it would take to write it off on insurance? Well you might need to be more imaginative in your claims given some of the competition.
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Vehicle owners across Australia have been quick to blame the rough tongues of cows, hungry horses with a taste for front spoilers, kicking kangaroos, accidental thefts, and cars with magical minds of their own.
AAMI corporate affairs spokesman Reuben Aitchison said around 95 per cent of insurance claims were approved across the industry, so he imagined most of the below examples were successful claims.
“Those claims that do get rejected are normally due to clearly fraudulent information or simply fall outside insurance coverage,” he said.
Mr Aitchison provided the following as a testament to the creative tenacity of insurance claimants and the investigative prowess of some brokers. Just try and guess which claims were successful.
Horse play for hungry horses with a panel palette
After a trail ride on a friends property, one claimant allegedly returned to find three horses gathered around his car chewing through the door seals, front spoiler, side mirrors and anything sticking out from the vehicle.
The three horses’ tongues - which were apparently very rough - also scratched the paintwork on the man’s car.
Cows be berry hungry
One woman submitted a claim after her car was reportedly terrorised by calves.
Mr Aitchison said the woman reportedly parked under a berry tree and returned to be confronted by cows sucking the fallen berries off her car. Apparently the cow’s tongues (also very rough) scratched the paintwork on her car.
Roo’ing in a ride
One young driver was left uninjured but stunned when a six-foot kangaroo decided to hitch a ride in his passenger seat.
The claimant was reportedly travelling on an open road just before dusk when the 'roo smashed through his windscreen and landed perfectly in his passenger seat. Paramedics arrived to find the startled kangaroo just chilling in the front seat sitting next to the very shocked young driver.
Demolition derby stalled only by the septic tank
An elderly man claimed his wife drove their car through their garage door, through their living room, out the other side of their house, and then crashed into their camper trailer only to push it into the home’s septic tank leading the entire carport to collapse.
But the elderly man, who was at home at the time, didn’t even notice the damage. He said he was watching the television at the back of the house and had no idea what happened until his neighbours pulled his wife from the wreckage.
Harry Potter and the flying Ford Anglia copycat
Mr Aitchison said one man apparently stood helplessly while his parked car rolled down a hill in reverse only to mysteriously change gear, perform a U-turn of its own accord, and then reverse back into a dam on his property.
He said this claim proved pretty easy for case officers to reject. It was an automatic car.
The curious case of the accidentally stolen car
Mr Aitchison said one concerned woman reported her call stolen after returning from a shopping trip to find her car had disappeared. The only problem was her car was never stolen.
An elderly man had repeatedly tried to enter her car thinking it was his own. Out of frustration, he called his own insurance company who broke into the car so it could be towed to a repairer. It wasn’t until the car was taken to the workshop that workmen realised the car didn’t belong to the elderly and somewhat confused man.
