7 Strange Stories Where Travel Insurance Paid Out

When you’re applying for group or family travel insurance, it is always a good idea to read the fine print before signing anything. Doing so helps you better understand where you are covered and where you are not.

However, there are some events that are simply too strange to be realistically listed down in the fine print. Here are seven of the kookier ones where claims were successfully paid out.

1. Falling Coconuts – A traveller in Sri Lanka was injured due to a coconut falling on her head and was lucky enough to be insured when it happened. This is actually a fairly common problem in the tropical regions, which is why you often see de-nutted coconut trees lining the beaches of resorts and hotels.
2. Buried Treasure – Two well-meaning children in Cornwall took it upon themselves to safeguard the video camera belonging to their parents by burying it in the sand. They unfortunately forgot where they buried it, but the insurers paid out just the same. You may want to expand your family travel insurance to include your gadgets, especially if they’re pricey enough to warrant the extra protection.
3. Rampaging Rodents – One contributor to BusinessBalls.com shared how a client of his broke an arm cycling to work. The reason? A herd of guinea pigs ran him off the road! A local farmer supported his story, telling how his daughter’s guinea pigs escaped and bred to plague-like proportions. You probably won’t get run off the road by guinea pigs, but animals can pose a danger when you’re abroad – large or small.
4. Hungry Rhinos – Speaking of animals, an Australian traveller in Africa volunteered to help out in a local zoo. Unfortunately, the poor man lost a finger when a rhinoceros bit it off completely. It clearly pays not to underestimate animals, whether you’re in the wild or in the confines of a zoo.
5. Fatal Attraction – One young Briton broke his nose while walking into a bus shelter in Athens. He claimed that he was distracted by a group of women in bikinis and, luckily for him, his insurance provider paid out! Sometimes it pays to be honest and straightforward in these cases, although it could be a bit problematic for spouses to use this excuse when it comes to family travel insurance.
6. Best Foot Forward – A traveller in Fiji was trying out spear fishing and in his eagerness, he mistook his own foot for a fish - you can guess what happened afterwards! The provider in this case was gracious enough to cover the accident, which would have been easy to dismiss as a self-inflicted injury if they had been less reputable.
7. No-Show Snow – A woman raring to test out her brand-new skis on the piste filed for a pay-out from her insurance company for a lack of snow when she arrived. Some providers guarantee specific events during the trip, like skiing or horseback riding, so it is worth reviewing the contract to see if you will be covered due to factors beyond your control.

While these stories above sound too strange to happen to you, it is worth noting that they actually happened. You'll be very grateful for the protection of single or family travel insurance packages if something just as strange happens to you!

Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of Insuremore. We provide low cost travel insurance and offer a range of policies including family travel insurance, annual, multi-trip and single-trip insurance. For all your travel cover needs, Insuremore can help you in the quickest and most cost-efficient way.

Writer and Online Marketing Manager in London.