Everything from peacocks to bedbugs are leading to a rise in filings with insurers in the United States.
Strange insurance claims resulting from animal-related incidents are on the rise in the United States. Everything from aggressive peacocks to hotel room bedbugs are sending people to their insurers for reimbursement of their losses.
This insurance data was published by Allianz SE in a report based on a recent study it conducted.
Strange insurance claims in the United States involving bedbugs rose by 50 percent from 2014 to 2015, according to Allianz data. This brought the number of claims from 66 to 99. Moreover, by September 2016, that same insurance company had already processed 70 bedbug claims. Larry Crotser, Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty unit, said the insurer was likely to beat the previous year’s total number of bedbug claims.
These findings were a part of a broader strange insurance claims global report conducted by the Allianz unit.
The animal insurance claim study was a part of a larger report that examined over 100,000 corporate liability claims filed in approximately 100 countries and that were paid by both Allianz and other insurers. The study data ran from 2011 through 2016 and the payouts totaled about $9.3 billion. Situations ranging everywhere from cyber security through aviation were considered within this analysis.
The analysis involved almost 1,880 business liability claims that had to do with animals in one way or another. As a result, the data showed that animals were involved in 2 percent of all commercial claims examined by this study.
From 2011 through 2015, there was a massive 28 percent increase in animal related insurance claims. The figure rose from 287 to a much higher 365, according to the Allianz figures. The average payment for strange insurance claims involving animals was approximately $10,400. The animal claims came to a total of around $20 million throughout the length of the study.
Twenty one percent of the business liability animal claims in the United States were the result of bedbugs. That said, there were also much stranger claims involving situations such as when a rodent destroyed a hotel guest’s slippers and hearing aid, and when a flying squirrel made its way into another hotel room only to leave damage behind. Two of the claims involved aggressive peacocks attacking people.
