AA Insurance has revealed its quirkiest claims in a bid to encourage more customers to make a claim on their contents insurance.
Among the most unusual claims received by the direct insurer over the past few years are a damaged jade cabbage sculpture, a stolen horse massager and a foldable electric skateboard.
Head of claims for AA Insurance, Simon Hobbs, said every day brings a wide range of contents claims for damaged, lost or stolen property.
“Some customers don’t make a claim because they don’t realise that their more unusual items are covered under their contents insurance, or they’re a little shy in telling us what’s happened,” he said.
“But they really should get in touch with us. In the last 12 months to 30 September 2015 we paid out $23 million for contents claims.”
Hobbs said customers often asked if they covered certain items such as heirloom or inherited pieces such as artwork, jewellery and furniture, as well as hobby-related items such as collections of McDonald’s, Barbie dolls and Star Wars toys.
“We’ve also been asked about autographs such as those signed on bank notes and other memorabilia.”
The Burmese jade cabbage sculpture had $1,500 worth of damage caused to it during a cleaning mishap which involved a leaf being broken off.
The metre high sculpture was valued at $80,000 and was one of seven purchased in the USA and was specified on the customer’s contents policy. The claim was covered so the leaf could be repaired.
Meanwhile, another customer accidentally knocked his foldable electric skateboard off a table, causing enough damage to make it unusable.
As he’d purchased the $1,600 board overseas and it wasn’t available in New Zealand, AA Insurance gave him a cash payment.
A $12,250 horse massage rug was stolen from the owner’s vehicle, leaving six horses missing out on their performance enhancing massages.
As the rug was used for a hobby, rather than business purposes, it was covered in full, AA Insurance said.
Hobbs said highlighting such claims was a good opportunity to remind customers to notify their insurer about more unusual items, as certain pieces of art and jewellery would need to be specified, and unusual items or collections would need some kind of valuation or evidence of their existence to make any claims process easier.
“It’s also a good idea to consider where you store these items, and to take the necessary precautions to keep them safe especially if they’re unique,” he said.
