Good Day All! What follows is our once-in-a-while foray into the weird and wacky world of insurance reality. All of us in the world of insurance have heard the strange stories offered up by insureds, insurance companies, agents and adjusters that discuss strange losses, bizarre insurance circumstances and the like.
More often than not these stories are urban myth, like the age-old story about the gentleman who insured his specialty cigar collection through a schedule of items on his homeowner policy. As the story goes, he then smoked the cigars and made an insurance claim, stating that the "cigars were lost in a fire" and he wanted to be compensated per the statement of values attached to the schedule. You do realize that this story is nothing more than an urban myth and never really happened? However, people talk about something enough and it lends a sort of truth to the story. What follows are absolutely true accounts of some, shall we say, interesting insurance situations? Please read on for more, I guarantee you'll be entertained!
First and foremost, I would like to thank the folks at the Business Insurance magazine for providing a never-ending source of valuable insurance information- without your magazine, I would have never learned of what follows, so thank you!
Amazing Slap Shot Nets Penalty!
An Indiana man crossed a line in a contest and it cost him $50,000.
Richard Marsh netted a 175-foot slap shot during an intermission contest at an Indiana Ice minor league hockey game, making him the winner of $50,000, which he pledged to a charity even before taking the ice this month.
Mr. Marsh's accomplishment was short-lived, however, after a private insurance company responsible for the prize disqualified him for making the shot, determining that he had stepped over the designated line. Interesting story... click HERE for the rest of it!
Subway in "Footlong" Food Fight!
The Subway restaurant chain says the term “footlong” it uses for its sandwiches is proprietary, but an Iowa-based convenience store chain begs to differ.
Ankeny, Iowa-based Casey's General Stores Inc. is offering what it calls a “footlong,” made-to-order sub sandwiches that it has rolled out in 180 of its 1,600 Midwest stores to date.
But an attorney for Subway, which is operated by Milford, Conn.-based Doctor's Associates Inc. and has 32,800 franchises in 92 countries and territories, wrote to Casey's in late January ordering the chain to “cease and desist” from using the term “footlong” in association with sandwiches.
Want to know what's happening on this one? Click HERE for the rest of the story!
Angelina Jolie Spy Movie was the Year's Riskiest!
Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. says the action-packed movie “Salt,” starring Angelina Jolie, was the riskiest film of 2010.
Ms. Jolie, starring as CIA agent Evelyn Salt, who’s on the run after being accused of being a Russian spy, performed her own stunts in the Sony Pictures Entertainment action flick.
“When the artist is going to be involved in their own stunts, it’s considered risky for us as the insurance carrier,” Wendy Diaz, Fireman’s Fund director of entertainment underwriting, reportedly said. “But it’s also somewhat risky for the production company.”
Still interested? Click HERE for the rest of the tale!
Iron Bars for Ex-Iron Maiden Frontman?
His reputation as a hell-raiser precedes him, but former Iron Maiden frontman Paul Di'Anno is facing jail after pleading guilty to benefits fraud.
The self-styled “wildest man in rock” was sacked from the heavy metal band in 1981, but he has continued to perform.
Mr. Di'Anno, whose real name is Paul Andrews, pleaded guilty recently at Salisbury Crown Court in England to falsely claiming a range of incapacity benefits between 2002 and 2008 involving benefits totaling about £45,000 ($72,000). Mr. Andrews claimed sciatica left him unable to work, but inspectors from the U.K. Department of Work and Pensions got an anonymous tip that led them to a YouTube clip of Mr. Andrews performing.
Click HERE for the rest of Mr. Di'Anno's alleged fraud!