13 Funny Travel Insurance Stories – Lucky For
Some, Less So For Others!
Author: Patrick Chong

Cheap travel insurance has a reputation of being quite a dull
area to work in. While it does have its dull routine moments,
just like any other job, these are made up for by the occasional
inspired funny travel insurance stories you hear. It's hard to
say how many of them are either exaggerated, hugely embellished
or just plain made up, but I still found a few of these travel
insurance stories made me laugh while I was researching this
article, and that's good enough for me.

Here's 13 funny travel insurance stories. While 13 is
traditionally an unlucky number, a fair few on this list will
consider themselves very lucky to be covered by understanding
travel insurance companies! The remaining ones who were turned
down will no doubt have learned an invaluable life lesson!

1. Cheeky Monkeys Cause Havoc

According to this tale (tail?), a group of cheeky monkeys
conspired to ruin a couple's romantic trip to Malaysia. Due to
the heat, the couple left the window of their chalet open during
the day while they went out, but regretted their decision when
they returned to discover their clothes and belongings all over
the surrounding resort and neighboring rainforest. The couple's
insurance company were thankfully understanding and ensured they
did not need to keep re-wearing the same clothes for the
remainder of their trip!

2. A LOT of Bombay Mix

You know Bombay Mix? The spicy Indian snack food. One traveler
claimed to have lost £600 worth of the stuff on his way back
from holiday, and tried to claim on his travel insurance. With
Bombay Mix costing less than £1 per 250g bag, a conservative
estimate is that the man would need to be carrying over 80
kilograms of the snack to have racked up £600 expenses! Quite
hard to misplace, you'd have thought, and the travel insurance
company agreed, refusing to pay the claim.

3. A sting in the tail

One traveler lost his wallet down a drain, while exploring
Natalya in Israel. However, rather than filing a police report
and contacting his travel insurance providers, the brave
individual tried to fish his wallet out of the drain – only to
be stung by a poisonous scorpion which had made the area its
home! The man's treatment (and presumably his missing wallet)
was covered by his travel insurance.

4. Geronimo!

Winning the dubious honor of the most unlucky on the list, this
family's camping trip went awry when a parachutist from the
nearby airbase missed his target and landed squarely on the
family tent. The camping equipment was ruined, and to add insult
to injury, they were not covered for accidental damage so had to
foot the bill themselves.

5. The joke's on the burglar?

A fairly routine claim for a stolen cosmetics bag took an
amusing twist when it was revealed that the victim had
transferred her medical-strength haemorrhoid cream into an empty
moisturizer tub earlier in the holiday. While French police
remained on the lookout for a suspiciously smooth-faced thief,
the woman's travel insurance company paid up for the missing
make-up, perfume and lotions.

6. Wrong airport, wrong country!

A man who claimed for a holiday cancellation when he was
refused entry to a flight was turned down, when it emerged his
flight wasn't from Manchester in the North West of England, but
Manchester, New Hampshire in the United States.

7. Some claims just aren't worth the excess!

Here's a tip for you – if you have an excess you need to pay on
a claim of £50, make sure your stolen possessions are worth at
the very least £50.01! One traveler who had his bag snatched on
holiday had his claim turned down, when it was established the
complete inventory of contents was: 1x bottle of water, 1 x
newspaper and 1 x packet of mints. No wonder his cheap travel
insurance claim was rejected.

8. Criminals aren't the only animals to ruin your trip

If you're holidaying in the Black Forest, you may want to make
sure you lock up properly when you leave the house. One family
came back to their chalet to discover their home had been
invaded by one hungry goat, which had proceeded to much his way
through their wallets, passports and sandwiches. Their claim for
new passports and wallets were rejected on the grounds of
negligence in leaving the chalet wide open.

9. Coconut Shy

If you're planning on relaxing under a tree in Sri Lanka, it's
worth checking your spot carefully, as one traveler found after
being concussed by a falling coconut. The injury knocked her
out, which may sound unlikely until you consider that the
average fresh coconut weights 2 kilograms, and their trees grow
up to 30 metres high. A coconut traveling at 53 miles per hour
is no joke, and it's unsurprising that the traveler was
reimbursed the £400 medical bills.

10. Coconuts lost

On the other hand, others apparently cannot function without
their coconuts: a couple returned from Mauritius to discover
their local produce missing. Claiming for two lost coconuts may
seem like a reasonable idea on paper, but with each one costing
less than a pound to replace, and an initial excess on any claim
made of £50, it's no wonder the travel insurance providers
turned this one down.

11. A what!?

Occasionally you hear of a claim for something that's just
completely baffling, and it was as such for Direct Line, who
allegedly received a claim for a "guitar made out of a pumpkin".


12. A burning desire for a drink

At the ironically labeled `Fire Bar' in Greece, one reveler
paid the price for `needing a drink' when she remained at the
bar waiting to be served despite a loud buzzer and the rapid
departure of others clamoring for a pint. Unsurprisingly, the
buzzer turned out to be a fire alarm – a fact which she finally
appreciated when the flames engulfed the area. She escaped the
scene with third degree burns and £300 of medical expenses to
pay – which her travel insurance company covered.

13. Someone's fibbing!

Finally more of a fact than a funny travel insurance story, but
its believed that there have been more claims for stolen £1000
Rolex Oysters watches than have been manufactured. It seems some
people have been creative with their travel insurance claims…


About The Author: Patrick Chong is the Managing Director of
Journey's Travel. Their commercial travel insurance website,
Insuremore (http://www.insuremore.co.uk) offers cheap global
travel insurance packages for families, singles, children and
skiers with free cover against acts of terrorism and a quick and
easy online claims feature.