10 Ridiculous Car Insurance Claims You'd Never Believe

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It probably doesn't surprise you to hear that sometimes those attempting insurance fraud get greedy. Delaware resident Nicolas DiPuma might have been fine if he stopped at the first part of his story: He claimed a fire started on his wood stove while cooking. He then claimed that nearby coals caught fire. He said that in an attempt to think fast, he threw the bucket of coals out the door, where they conveniently landed in the backseat of his convertible. And finally, he claimed that while on his way to throw the coals into his car, some of them landed on the sofa. Local law enforcement didn't have much trouble getting him to cop to insurance fraud charges. [via Listverse]

The driver of a 1971 Jaguar E-Type was surprised to find that his car wasn't performing up to its usual precision standards. Shortly after starting the drive, the engine began to overheat and the car became inoperable. After the car was towed to a service station, a mechanic discovered that a snake had wrapped its way around the drive-belt pulleys, causing the belt to slip off and the car to overheat. [via FOX]

Though we thought this was only the stuff of '80s comedies, a young valet actually took a Maserati parked in his parking garage out for a test drive. This didn't result in the kind of hijinx our adolescent fantasies might have conditioned us to expect.

The teen crashed into a Jeep, which was bad enough, but the Jeep damaged a nearby Porsche 365SC Coupe, totaling the vehicle. That's probably one of the most expensive joyrides ever taken, even though the driver never got out of the parking garage. [via FOX]

A State Auto Insurance Co. rep by the name of Mike Rowe (presumably not of Dirty Jobs fame) never felt great about taking on a client who loved fireworks. Every 4th of July, he would worry that he was going to get a costly phone call. Of course, one year, the call came.

The client had put several thousand dollars of fireworks in his trunk and started to drive towards a field where he could set them off. He never got to the field, as he decided to smoke a cigarette, and then toss the cigarette out his car window. He survived, but his fireworks show didn't. [via Claims Journal]

Elephant, a British insurer, released a list of the most ridiculous insurance claims they've received. There are your far share of animal and naked man-related claims, but one that caught our attention was a woman who claimed she mistook her bottle of shampoo for a container of gasoline and filled her car with premium grade Herbal Essence. Sadly, if you Google "shampoo in gas tank" you will quickly see that the person who brought this claim is not alone. [via Telegraph]

A U.K. motorist made a pretty poor attempt at insurance fraud when he called his insurance company claiming that cars had scratched both sides of his vehicle while he was parked. In reality, the man had driven the wrong way down a one-way street and managed to wedge himself between two parked cars, causing damage to all the cars involved, and likely the man's pride. Nothing like pawning responsibility for your wrongs on others! [via Cars Guide]

British Comedian Jasper Carrot used to read old insurance claims as part of his act. In doing so, he stumbled on a number of ridiculous Australian claims that stemmed from the actions of mischievous kangaroos. One man plowed into a kangaroo who flew through his windshield. The man was unharmed, but in shock.

When assistance showed up, they found the kangaroo sitting in the driver's seat next to the owner who was sitting, dazed, on the passenger side. Another driver had his vehicle damaged when a kangaroo bounded over his car, and then was forced to call the insurance company again when a kangaroo seriously damaged the rental car he was given while his vehicle was in the shop. [via Cars Guide]

Years ago, insurance publication The National Underwriter put out a call for the most ridiculous insurance stories agents had ever come across. This one was easily one of the best. A fisherman coming back from a trip to the coast was surprised to see that cows were unusually attracted to his car, so much so that they started licking and biting at it. Salt from the ocean air had stuck to his car and a herd of cattle had mistaken his vehicle for a salt lick. Though the story is pretty funny, it was hard for the fisherman to see the humor in the chewed up rubber on his car. The bovine attack resulted in a substantial comprehensive claim. [via insureMe]

There are some acts of negligence that you wouldn't think would be covered under a car insurance policy. You would be wrong. On its website, Ron Hettler of Hettler insurance uses such an example to demonstrate exactly what can be covered under comprehensive insurance. 

Early in his career, Ron settled a claim for a gentleman who had accidentally fired a shotgun through his car's windshield. The man never even expected to make the claim; Hettler encouraged him after the man told his story. Of course, this is only covered if you shoot your car by accident, so if that's just how you take out your automobile frustrations, you're out of luck. [via Hettler Insurance]

A huge hail storm back in the '90s left car insurance company Block and Hyland responsible for a lot of claims. Company president Tim Hyland remembers one ballsy crook who tried to file a false insurance claim after the storm. The company sent a claims adjuster to inspect hail damage to a car.

The adjuster saw that the damage was a little too perfect. Rather than the scattershot damage of hail, the car had a series of perfectly symmetrical dents. It appeared that the owner had taken a ball peen hammer to his car. Undeterred, the owner then filed a police report claiming that someone had attacked his car with a hammer. Since there was no way to prove what hand was behind the hammer, Block and Hyland were forced to pay out. [via How Stuff Works]