Those who work in the insurance industry—and particularly in claims—can tell many serious stories about huge losses they’ve handled involving large monetary payouts, considerable damage to property, and even tragic loss of life. Conversely, these same professionals all generally have once-in-a-lifetime war stories about unusual claims that are more entertaining than serious in nature—at least for those inside the business—which most are happy to share when prompted.
“You get enough claims where there are fatalities…or there are fires, or serious loss of property,” that it’s nice to share stories that are a bit more lighthearted, according to Doug Rost, who has worked for various companies as an underwriter but has seen multiple claims during his years in the industry.
Some stories raise an eyebrow, and perhaps a chuckle, based on the lack of description of the circumstances. Mr. Rost cited one instance at a company he worked for where a small reserve was set up on a claim involving an unknown person entering an insured trailer of a truck and reportedly defecating in the corner. The claims department gave no other description.
“I remember one day I was sitting at an underwriting desk, and a friend of mine—another underwriter—and I came across this claim,” Mr. Rost explained. “And we read the claim notes, and it was hilarious. There weren’t a lot of notes, and that’s what made it even funnier. It was a small reserve. Whoever made the comments about the claim did so very sparingly.”
Mr. Rost added, “Anyway, there it was—solid proof that ‘it’ happens.”
WASTE NOT, WANT NOT
Sometimes “it” happening is not the problem, but rather what to do with it once “it” does.
Marc Dubois—who has 34 years of experience in the claims business and currently is the owner of the Florida adjusting firm M.G.D. Claims Services Inc.—told a story about a municipality that attempted to find a creative way to turn the sludge left over from its sewage treatment process into a profit. The municipality’s initial attempt did not go according to plan.
Mr. Dubois explained that the idea was to polish the waste off into pellets and sell it to the Chinese, who would then use the excrement as fertilizer.
The municipality hired a firm out of Montreal “to build this cyclone, which basically was a polishing apparatus where the sludge would vibrate amongst a series of felt-covered wires inside and get polished off,” Mr. Dubois recalled, noting that the cyclone contained a steel cover that was 80 feet in diameter.