Potatoes, deer, hens, sneezing, spiders and soup were all causes of some of the more unusual insurance claims that Aviva received and settled in 2020.
Aviva’s annual list of unusual claims, released at the end of 2020 to support a new TV advertising campaign, serves to highlight the role of insurance in protecting policyholders when unforeseen and unexpected circumstances arise.
The insurer had to step in when one of its motor insurance customers encountered an oncoming tractor pulling a trailer of potatoes, which flew off the trailer and bombarded the policyholder’s car.
Another motor insurance customer braked to avoid a hen in the highway, only to be hit in the rear bumper by another car.
In an example that befits the animal’s mention in the Sound of Music song Do-Re-Mi, a deer fell into a customer’s outdoor swimming pool, damaging the cover and tearing the pool lining, causing it to leak. A local animal charity was able to look after the deer and Aviva settled the claim.
An unfortunate home insurance customer was about to eat his lunch while resting on the sofa. He sneezed just at the point of sitting and catapulted soup all over the carpet and couch.
One Aviva customer panicked when a spider ran up her leg while driving, causing her to bump into a parked vehicle.
Another home insurance customer claimed for a replacement phone when it suddenly stopped working—after she had dropped it in a bowl of custard.
Gareth Hemming, managing director of personal lines at Aviva, says: “Insurance is designed in case of the unforeseen and unexpected—and as our claims experience shows, we see plenty of situations which couldn’t have been predicted!”
“Whatever the circumstances, our priority is to help to put things right for our customers—whether this means getting them back on the road, replacing shattered windows or supplying new carpets.”
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