Weird Wednesday News: 12 Licking Ponies Cause $1,380 in Damage to Car’s Paintwork
Photo Credit: Brittany Bevis
Animal Road Rage
British based car insurance company, Saga Car Insurance, which specifically caters to drivers aged 50 and over, has recently released data about unusual claims where animals were the culprits of causing damage.
• Animals cause almost £1 million ($1,532,016) of damage a year
• Claims include horses licking paintwork off cars and cats napping under car hoods
Last year, Saga handled around 500 car insurance claims involving animals, from the bizarre to the absolute crazy. Here are some of the most unusual animal related car claims that Saga has handled:
Forget hungry hippos, its hungry horses
One Saga customer fancied a hike around Dartmoor National Park so he parked his car and went in search of an adventure. When he got back, he found 12 wild horses licking the paintwork off his car. It turned out the naughty ponies caused £1,200 ($1,380) worth of damage.
Holy cow
Earlier this year, one customer took his beloved cow to a cattle show to see if she could win a prize. He tied her to a post, however the cow got stage fright and made a run for it uprooting the post and dragging it around the parking lot causing £800 ($1,226) worth of damage to the parked vehicle.
It’s a CAT-astrophe
One policyholder needed to go to the store for some milk, but when she started the car she heard a strange noise coming from the hood, so went to investigate. When she got out of the car, she saw a cat running away but not before causing almost £4,000 ($6,128) worth of damage.
Oh Deer!
One customer was on his way to a wedding when a stag appeared out of nowhere causing him to slam on his brakes. However, it must have been a case of ‘fight or flight’ for the deer as another stag appeared moments later and ploughed straight into the stationary car. While both stags dashed off in a daze, the driver was left saying “oh deer” – or perhaps something stronger – as the stag caused £2,000 ($3,064) of damage.
Duck, Duck, BRIDGE
One policyholder was en route to a boat yard when he spotted a low flying duck. The driver quickly realized that the bird had misjudged its take off and as he swerved to miss the mallard he drove into a stone bridge. While the duck escaped with a few ruffled feathers, the cars bang with the bridge caused more than £1,500 ($2,298) worth of damage.
Roger Ramsden, chief executive, Saga Services, comments, “It seems that just about anything can send a road trip into turmoil and [drivers over 50] have to have their wits about them when they’re in the driver’s seat.”
“We understand that some things are out of our customers’ control and that they can’t predict when they may face low flying ducks or deers darting across the road. But at least, with Saga, they know they are covered and that our friendly team won’t duck out of helping or set hairs raising as they help get people back on the road as soon as possible.”
*According to analysis of Saga Car Insurance data. Please note: no animals were harmed while drafting this press release.
