Cork in the eye among best of insurer’s bizarre claims

AN ACCIDENT involving a leap-frogging vicar and a corset-related finger injury feature among compensation claims paid by an insurer during its three centuries in business, it has revealed.

Aviva plunged into its archives to unearth a veritable “treasure trove” of claims as it prepares to celebrate its 325th anniversary on Friday Nov 12.

Researchers found that injury claims peppered the archives, particularly in the days when health and safety rules were less strict.

In 1884, a surgeon suffered a “poisoned hand” when unpacking a box of drugs.

Another entry noted that a man was injured when his finger became snagged in a woman’s corset as he attempted to prevent her drowning.

Aviva said that while many of its older claims were rather light on detail, they do include a vicar who was awarded £120 compensation in 1875 after falling and injuring himself while playing leap-frog.

In another case, a London hotel keeper was awarded £25 and 10 shillings in 1878 after being hit in the eye with a cork while opening a bottle of champagne.

Fast forward to the 20th century – 1934 to be exact – and an elephant poked its trunk through the window of a Morris Minor van as a circus passed by to swipe the driver’s lunch and finished

‘A vicar was awarded £120 compensation in 1875 after injuring himself while playing leap-frog’

it off with a loaf of bread, but damaged the vehicle doing so.

Unbeknownst to one policyholder, when he took his family on holiday in 1948, his wife secreted her jewellery in their stove. Upon their return her husband lit the stove, with disastrous consequences for the woman’s jewellery.

Aviva’s roots can be traced back to 1696, when it was established as the Hand-in-hand Fire and Life Insurance Company.