When I was a teen I remember my Mum filling out the insurance claim form after hitting a kangaroo. You'd think that this is such a regular occurrence here in Australia that there would be a box to just tick and everyone would understand exactly what went down ... but no!! There is no such simple box to tick, and insurance claim forms have not changed much over the last couple of decades.
Long before I knew anything about insurance I got to enjoy seeing my mums humour as she filled in the form - full truth in everything she wrote - but the kangaroo failing to indicate was my favourite part, a close second was her unique drawing skills when demonstrating how the collision occurred. That kangaroo look like a bad boy for sure.
Hubby grew up in the country and I lived there for 14 years, so we have our own share of Kangaroo stories galore. One that I am sure the insurance company questioned was my little sister running through a mob of kangaroos in her tiny Toyota Starlet - the way she told it the dent in the front panel and bumper was from the Roo she hit and the dent and scratch in the back passenger door was from the Roo that head butted her car, only to then bounced back shacking his head before he lashed out and go full swing into a slapping frenzy with her car - like he was Mike Tyson boxing. Her little Starlet didn't stand a chance with angry Rambo Roo.
Besides giving me a sense of where my weird humour comes from, these memories of course sent me on a tangent to find other funny stories about claims. So I picked the brain of our fearless leader who has been doing insurance for decades about the claims he giggled about in that time. This is some of the stories he shared.
So there were a number of stories about swerving to miss things on the road. I didn't realise how many Deers we have in Australia, but it seems its a common thing to swerve to miss them. I think half of those accidents would be more to do with the shock of an actual deer running out on the road in Australia and the resulting brain paralysis questioning if perhaps Santa is real because.... you know - deer in Australia?? Wow!!!
Bees, wasps and spiders in the vehicle while we are driving seems to be a common theme too. If you have ever experienced a Queensland huntsman spider you will fully understand how distracting it is to have a palm size spider run across your windscreen INSIDE the car with you and how desperately you want to exit the vehicle regardless of what speed you are travelling...... and that how the car kept up momentum running into the shopfront after I exited the vehicle. No officer. I am not at fault because I was not driving the car at the time.
I can absolutely understand that!! I would have not even slowed down while exiting the vehicle!!
Snakes. I never figured they could be a thing, but the old time country drivers will tell you that if you run over a snake, be sure to glance in your rear view and make sure it is still on the road. Why? So glad you asked.
A snake can flick up off the road and end up in your undercarriage or engine after you drive over it. An injured, angry snake is not a passenger you want to deal with, so I can understand how the driver became so distracted looking in the rear view mirror for the snake that they ran off the road, lost control in the gravel and ended up tangled in the barbed wire fence.
The above image is a common sight on back roads. Australian cows are tough - they eat cars right?!?!? Well not really, but vehicular accidents with them is common.
Imagine how much damage is done hitting a sturdy animal that weighs over half a tonne. Many a claim form has come in telling us how slack the neighbour is when it comes to fixing fences and how the cows got out of the paddock onto the road and then refused to give way.
My all time favourite is the claim form about Brutus the randy bull. Brutus fancied the ladies in the neighbours paddock so ploughed through the fence, the ladies were shy and fled from Brutus through the freshly demolished fence and onto the 'road' (through the paddock) without indicating where they were going and failing to give way. Well at least that was Bobs account of how his car was damaged while parked in the paddock.
We love Australian humour. It's like Aussies just know how to make their insurance brokers smile. Its a good reminder that while we take your insurance very seriously so you don't have to. As your broker we can do all the worrying for you. So sit back, relax and enjoy a good campfire story about our crazy wildlife and the mischief and mayhem they can create .