A sense of humor can overcome many misfortunes. Sometimes misdeeds can be costly.
Insurance cases often balance on the border of comedy and drama, leaving a deep hole in the wallet as well, and it’s good if everything ends happily and you can smile about it after the accident. As Joke Day approaches, WHITE offers an insight into the everyday life of an insurer!
Crazy dangerous home life
“As you know, most accidents happen in quite ordinary domestic situations, or as the people say, on flat ground. Some of them are really comical, although they can cost hundreds and even thousands of euros, so it is good if you can rely on the support of the insurer. The most common cause of accidents is recklessness, carelessness and failure to calculate one’s own strength, so stupid ideas are always worth rethinking,” reminds Armands Lagons, head of BALTA’s Private Property and Special Products Management Department.
Another client had a silly situation worthy of a movie: a person was carrying a child’s table from one room to another, when suddenly the family cat in a hunting mood jumped out of nowhere right on top of the carrier, digging its claws into the leg. When the person got scared, the table slipped from his hands and the floor was damaged, causing a loss of 600 euros.
It is also possible to experience various problems in the kitchen. A customer made a cocktail for 820 euros: he put the ingredients in a blender, but did not close the lid properly; the rapid revolutions created a vibration, the lid popped open, and the entire cocktail spilled all over the kitchen. The day after the general cleaning, the client found that the ceiling and walls were damaged, because it was impossible to completely clean the oil stains added to the cocktail.
Another incident was really dramatic and could have ended not only with an insurance compensation of more than 1100 euros, but a much more serious accident, so the client can now breathe a sigh of relief. She heated oil in a pot on the electric stove. It caught fire, flames rising to a height of almost half a meter. The client, who had never experienced anything like this, was confused and did not know how to extinguish the flames. To prevent the range hood from igniting, she grabbed the burning cauldron to carry to the bathroom, but her hands were burning and the flame was leaning towards the man, so she put the cauldron on the floor and poured water over it. The flame shot up the ceiling in all directions and died out, smoking the ceiling and walls.
And in another family, at a decent age of 70+, an opist decided to jump on a trampoline with his grandchildren, but without calculating his strength, he flew off the trampoline and unfortunately suffered serious injuries. “Of course, you don’t see a flying opiate every day, but the consequences can be quite sad, so such cases are only apparently funny. With the arrival of spring and the resumption of outdoor activities, we invite everyone to be prudent and sober, so as not to experience injuries,” warns the BALTA Personal Products Manager and risk underwriter Ludmila Šchegoleva.
Nothing like traveling!
What’s a trip without colorful adventures! Travelers are constantly involved in various misfortunes, but sometimes the claimed insurance claims are quite comical. A lady was flying with her lap dog traveling in a delicate carry-on bag. Before boarding the plane, the airport employee ordered the bag to be zipped and proceeded to perform the task himself, breaking the zip. It was not allowed to board the plane with the damaged bag, and the lady had to hastily buy a new dog carrier bag right there at the airport, which would have cut a 600 euro hole in her budget without insurance.
A customer will apply to the insurer for compensation after the children, driven by natural curiosity, tore the string from the mattress while staying in a guest house. The mattress literally fell to pieces, and the customer had to pay 400 euros, which was covered by the civil liability insurance.
True, there are also cases when the insurer refuses to pay the compensation, because no material damages have been found, but the smile is guaranteed for the whole day. “For example, a gentleman submitted a claim to us that he and his wife always travel with pink suitcases, the wife damaged it and had to buy another one instead, and the gentleman believed that he also deserves compensation for buying a new suitcase so that he can continue to travel in a uniform style with spouses. On the other hand, a woman decided to go shopping in Turkey due to the delay of her luggage and presented us with receipts for what she believed to be basic necessities – 50 sets of underwear, bedding sets and a wool rug. We have also received a question from new people about whether they will receive compensation for the cancellation of their trip, if you have quarreled with your travel companion and no longer want to travel together. BALTA does not solve family conflicts yet, but we have to provide psychological help in various life situations on a regular basis,” says Ludmila Shchegoleva with a smile.
Living nature – for hard money
Meetings with animals often end with comical episodes. In Thailand, tourists from Latvia are often pranked by monkeys – they steal wallets, documents, glasses, women’s purses, but it also happens that they scratch themselves, and then they need medical help. A man had to be injected with rabies after an encounter with a monkey because the monkey spat on his slipper and the man had a wound on his foot.
Face-to-face conversations with dogs and cats are also not a very good idea. In BALTA’s experience, there has been both a case when a person tried to talk to a dog, but probably the two did not understand, because the dog bit his nose, and an incident when a woman was bitten on the cheek by a cow. A very dangerous adventure happened to a tourist from Latvia in a Mauritian resort – she was stung by a rockfish, and the compensation paid exceeded 3,000 euros.
