7 Weird and Funny Insurance Claims People Have Actually Tried

“Windshield broken. Cause unknown. Probably voodoo.’

If you were an insurance assessor and this claim landed on your desk, how would you react?

Once the laughter subsides, you’d have to get serious. With insurance companies paying out over $163 billion every year, insurance claims are no laughing matter.

Most of the time.

Since we love all things weird and quirky, we’re bringing you 7 funny insurance claims people have actually used. (Oh, and that voodoo one mentioned in the beginning? It’s real, too.)

Read on for your daily dose of insurance humor.

1. The Disappearing Hippie Van

Back in 1974, a woman in Washington had the misfortune of having her beloved VW hippie van stolen. She filed a claim with Allstate and received $600 for her stolen van.

Fast-forward 35 years to the Port of Los Angeles in 2009. What do border patrol officers find in a cargo container bound for Holland? You guessed it–the fully restored, still-running VW hippie van from 1974.

Where had the van been for all those years? Only it knows. In the meantime, the van is now the property of Allstate and worth $25,000.

2. Riding “Shotgun”

Here’s another reason not to play with guns, boys and girls–you might accidentally shoot your car.

A man was driving his pickup truck with his trusty shotgun in the seat beside him. When he arrived at his destination, he grabbed his gun and started to climb out of his truck. He somehow lost his grip, and the gun fired when it hit the ground.

Fortunately, the man wasn’t hurt, but the same couldn’t be said of his truck. The seats, dashboard, and windshield suffered severe damage from the shotgun blast.

The interesting part? When he filed his insurance claim, the company approved it, stating it was covered under his Comprehensive Insurance plan.

3. Hail Damage? Hail No!

When a severe hailstorm caused a lot of vehicle damage in a small midwest town, one clever man decided to capitalize on it.

He filed a claim stating his car had been damaged in the storm. When the assessor arrived, what he found were hundreds of perfectly round, symmetrical divots all over the car.

Realizing the damage wasn’t from hail–but rather a hammer–the claim was denied. Undeterred, the owner filed a police report stating that an unknown attacker had beaten his car with a hammer.

He then filed a new insurance claim along with the police report. Because no one could prove the client had damaged the car himself, the insurance company reluctantly paid the claim.

4. Talk About a Bad Day

Some days, it’s just not your day. That’s what one unfortunate man lamented the day he managed to create three separate accidents in a matter of seconds.

It started when he rear-ended the car in front of him, causing minor damage to the taillight. Then, while backing away from the car he’d hit, he struck the front bumper of the vehicle behind him.

But this series of unfortunate events wasn’t over just yet. When he opened his door to step out of his car, he knocked over a passing cyclist!

One minor accident–three separate insurance claims. Even the Three Stooges couldn’t have choreographed the scene so well.

5. The Case of the Flying Mattress

Moving a mattress is always a hassle–especially when it blows off your car in the middle of the highway!

That’s exactly what happened to one couple who were moving house in Seattle. When their mattress blew off the top of their SUV, it caused a rapid three-car pile-up on the interstate.

When two passersby stopped to help, the woman driving the SUV fled, leaving her partner to clean up the mess. Before the police arrived, one of the Good Samaritans also left the scene.

But the story wasn’t finished just yet. Imagine the driver’s shock when he noticed a head bobbing around in his rearview mirror. It turned out to be the man from the SUV, hoping to escape before the police arrived!

The driver pulled over, and a fight ensued until police arrived to detain the mattress owner. But we have the most sympathy for the three drivers involved in the pile-up. We’re sure they experienced some neck pain after a car accident like that!

6. We Found the Red October

Our next funny insurance claim comes from a Navy wife, who claimed that a submarine hit her car.

She’d driven down to the Port where her husband was due to arrive and parked her car at the end of the slip. While trying to berth, though, the submarine commander accidentally rammed into the slip and broke a section off.

You guessed it–the section was right where her car was parked, causing it to plummet into the water. So, as bizarre as it sounds, her car truly was hit by a submarine.

And yes, the Navy did pay for her compensation claim.

7. Rogue Guinea Pigs

No list of funny insurance claims would be complete without at least one animal story. This one doesn’t involve a deer or a cow, but rather a herd of wild guinea pigs.

This insurance claim came in from a man who was riding his bicycle to work. En route, he rounded a corner, fell off his bike and broke his arm.

The cause? He described it as a “huge herd of guinea pigs” that ran him off the road.

Go ahead and laugh, but the farmer confirmed the man’s story. Apparently, the pet guinea pigs of the farmer’s daughter had gotten loose and were multiplying at a staggering rate.

Funny Insurance Claims and More

So, which claim on our list did you think was the funniest? Which ones do you think worked–and which ones didn’t?

There’s no way of knowing for sure. All we know is that these funny insurance claims brought a smile to our face–and we hope they did for you too.

Need more humor in your life? Check out this post about some truly absurd ways people have tried to pass a drug test!

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