We all think of ourselves as the “King of the Road”, don’t we? Come on, we’re men. We never get lost, so we never need to stop and ask pedestrians for directions. We all know how to change a tire, even if most of us have never ever had to. And it’s definitely not our fault whenever there’s a collision or car crash.
But sadly that’s not the case with this unlucky bunch, who’ve not only caused motoring mayhem, but then had to share their driving disasters with their car insurance companies to try and get them to pay for the damage.
So, in no particular order of stupidity, here are some of the craziest but true car insurance claims ever made:
It’s snow joke One cool customer decided that heavy overnight snow and frost had made it too dangerous for him to drive, so he took the seemingly sensible decision to book a taxi. Sadly for them, the clumsy cabbie skidded on the treacherous ice right into the back of their car parked safely on the driveway.
Every dog has its day A simple, everyday scenario. A guy’s parked up outside the local convenience store, popped in for a pint of milk and newspaper, and returned to his car just a couple of minutes later. Or at least where he thought he’d parked his car. Unfortunately, his trusty pet Alsatian had other ideas and managed to release the handbrake, with the unscheduled trip only coming to an end when the car crunched into a van parked nearby.
Crawling along in traffic One unsuspecting driver had the shock of her life when she felt a sneaky spider creeping and crawling up her leg. As a result of her surprise, she accidentally put her foot down on the gas and crashed straight into the car in front, leaving the insurance company wondering if she was telling the truth of spinning a web of lies.
Shop ‘til you drop An elderly grandma’s weekly trip to the supermarket took an unexpected turn for the worst when her car hood was crushed after being struck by a squadron of flying shopping carts that had fallen off the back of a delivery wagon.
A wheely bad excuse If you’re the sort of person who usually has to drag themselves out of bed for the early morning commute to work at the very last minute, you’ll probably have sympathy for our next perpetrator. After ploughing into the back of a bus picking up passengers at the side of the road, he tried to absolve himself of all responsibility by arguing “it’s not my fault, the bus is five minutes early than usual”.
In the dark After somehow managing to escape unharmed following a huge pileup, a rather racy motorist was told the accident was his fault as he’d been driving way too fast. His hard to believe explanation was “I didn’t think the speed limit applied after midnight”.
Momentary loss of concentration To two wheels for our next crazy claim. A madcap motorcyclist lost control at 70mph when his rather frisky girlfriend, who was riding pillion at the time, reached over and grabbed him in a rather delicate and personal area – at least that’s what his insurers assumed he meant when he said she’d touched his helmet!
Some things are understandable Finally, one frazzled fella had a rather reasonable explanation after just totalling his brand new sports car: “I pulled away from the side of the road, saw my mother-in-law approaching on the other side, and headed over the embankment.” I’m sure we can all sympathise with his predicament!
Written by
Chris Owens
from the car insurance team
at Money Supermarket
Pinstripe Magazine Staff
Online Men’s Lifestyle Magazine on Gear, Grooming, Girls, Gadgets
