Every year, insurers release the details of some of their more bizarre filings.
Vacationers always experience strange things while they’re away from home, and those with travel insurance may need to make a claim, which, at times, means that the details of the story could end up on one of the strangest filing lists.
Allianz Global Assistance has released its own bizarre claims, which include the following.
• A tourist was held at gunpoint in the New York subway system by a gunman who was dressed in a large, smiling, big eared Mickey Mouse mask. He was robbed of his valuables but was uninjured. He made a police report and his travel insurance company reimbursed him for the costs of replacing what had been stolen.
Most of these travel insurance claims are quite serious at the time, as odd as they are.
• A couple travelling through Bali were visiting a temple, when they had their bag stolen. Though they had initially expected to see a criminal running away, when they had a second look, they realized that it had been a monkey that took the bag. Children saw the event happen and chased down the monkey before luring him closer with food in order to exchange the stolen sack for some food. However, the monkey became frustrated with all of the confusion and tossed the bag off the top of a cliff. The travel insurance that had been purchased by the couple paid for the replacement of the bag and its contents.
• A couple on a walking tour in North Queensland had a startling plot unfold around them when the hunting excursion went awry. The couple began feeling uncomfortable with the situation and took off from the tour, feeling certain that their own tour guide was hunting them instead of the game that they were out to seek. However, when they made the claim to their travel insurance company, it was refused as the insurer determined that the couple had never been in any actual danger while on their tour.
Travel insurance companies receive unique stories all the time as a part of their claims, but only a few each year will make it onto their lists of the most bizarre claims.