Adequate insurance coverage, paired with due diligence and care, can help protect both businesses and individuals from devastating losses. While most claims are normal and manageable, in some cases, significant losses have led to historic payouts. Read on to learn about some of the largest and most unusual claims in history:
- Man sues self for boomerang injury.
In one of the more convoluted insurance court cases, Kentucky resident Larry Rutman sued himself for bodily harm after throwing a boomerang that returned and knocked him unconscious. Due to damage to his memory and a new “oversexed” countenance, he was awarded $300,000.
- Mr. Bean sets a world record.
British actor Rowan Atkinson, best known for playing the bumbling Mr. Bean, holds a surprising world record: the world’s most expensive car insurance claim. Atkinson was driving his McLaren F1 supercar when he suffered a crash. The car, originally purchased for £640,000, required £900,000 in repairs. The insurer paid the claim because the value of the car had risen to £3.5 million by the time the accident occurred. The previous record for a car insurance payout stood at approximately £300,000.
- An expensive slip and fall accident.
In the winter of 2012, a Virginia resident slipped and fell on the ice outside his building, suffering several broken bones. Complications after the accident led to lower leg amputations on both legs. The resident’s claim against his landlord was eventually settled at $7.75 million dollars, which is still considered the highest payout of its kind. It was found that the landlord was negligent, and had failed to properly remove ice and snow outside the building.
- Massive financial malfeasance.
The Lehman Brothers bank collapse caused significant financial damage to a lage numbers of investors. Between claims directly involving Lehman Brothers and those that were made by related companies, it is estimated that payouts topped $100 billion. However, the exact total remains unknown due to confidentiality rules.
- A big blackout.
In 2003, a software bug in an alarm system led to a massive outage that affected 10 million people in Ontario, Canada and 45 million people in eight states in the US. The bug caused an alarm to fail, which mean that operators remained unaware of a need to redistribute power when lines dropped into some area foliage. Between grounded flights, looted businesses and loss of work, claims for this incident topped $6 billion.
As a business owner, it is vital to ensure that you are well-covered for any predictable loss. By seeking adequate coverage, you can be sure that you are well-protected in the case of a large or surprising claim.
