It seems each year, in seeking out the weirdest and most wackyinsurance claims, animals have a starring role in circumstancesthat lead to strange calls to insurance companies.

This year is no different—animals again feature prominently. Butthe most unusual claims this year also involve toilet paper,invisibility potion, and an unfortunate incident involving ahigh-heeled shoe and an eye.

“We have clients that, you can say, like to throw some wildparties,” says Pete Pietrowski, head of claims for Chartis PrivateClient Group, an insurer of high-net- worth clients. Apparently,one party had many guests, both upright and horizontal.

“One of the guests, a woman in high heels, stepped back and ontothe face of a guy who I guess was passed out,” Pietrowskicontinues. “He lost the eye.”

Pietrowski's stories illuminate a point: money does not equalbrains, but it can amount to big payouts for Chartis, even if thecompany does everything it can to prevent it.

Property RISK MANAGEMENT GONE BAD

The company works with clients to fortify homes againstwindstorms, and it worked brilliantly with one policyholder whosehouse did survive a bad storm, Pietrowski says. That is, until hechose to light some candles after the storm since the power wasout. Then he went out.

“The windows were opened and the curtains swayed in the breeze,”he tells. “The house survived the storm, but not the fire. The guyhas backup generators now.”

Another policyholder after a storm decided to try and drivethrough some flood water. He made it, but the inside of his car wassoaked.

“He thought it would be a good idea touse a leaf blower to dry the floor mats,” Pietrowski says.

The insured propped the gas-powered blower up inside the caraimed at the floor and went in the house to take a shower. Sometime elapsed and, in the end, Chartis was paying a $3 million claimfor damages to the car and the home, Pietrowski says.

The leaf blower caught fire, and the car was parked in thegarage. By the time the policyholder smelled smoke, a wing of hishome was charred.

CLAIMS GO TO THE DOGS

Speaking of garaged, expensive cars (and returning to yearlyanimals-make-for-good-unusual claims stories):

“An insured went out of town and let his friend stay at hishouse to watch his dog,” says American Collectors Insurance viae-mail. “The insured had a 1969 Camaro with a very shiny new paintjob. The dog got into the garage and, seeing his reflection in thecar, started to scratch at the car frantically—apparentlyperceiving his own reflection to be another dog.”

“The dog scratched aroundthe car, damaging both door panels and the front and rearquarter-panels, while trying to get at his reflection,” continuesthe insurer of collector vehicles and collectibles.

Pet health insurance provider Veterinary Pet Insurance Co., partof the Nationwide Insurance group of companies, gives out theHambone Award each month to the policyholder with the quirkiestclaim. The award is named after an insured dog that got stuck in arefrigerator and ate an entire ham while waiting to be freed.

Last year one dog, prone to snapping atthe vacuum, lawn mower and other loud equipment, met its match whenshe attempted to take a bite of a running chainsaw. A happy endinglater, Darci lucked out with a few stitches. No word on whether shelearned her lesson.

Half A Cow, Multiperson Underwear

Sometimes it isn't the circumstances of the claim but the actualitems that are allegedly lost or damaged that cause a rising of theeyebrow, a smirk and a giggle.

Enservio of Needham, Mass., helps carriers and adjusters valuateand replace content items. In doing so it racks up enoughscratch-your-head items to come up with a yearly top-10 list ofweirdest content claims.

The list in 2010 included invisibility potion, 3.7 miles ofplastic wrap, multiperson underwear (motto: “Half the fun isgetting in them…the other half is up to you.”) and aflamethrower.

The list also includes half a cow and a “tub of melted stuff.”The firm could not elaborate on which half of the bovine or whatkind of “stuff.”

Flies, Drag Queens

Unusual claims are not limited to personal property. Liabilityclaims provide more than enough fodder for seekers of aclaims-related chuckle.

“An individual walking on a sidewalkfiled a claim and said the ice and snow was not adequately removedfrom an apartment complex, which caused him to break his ankle,”recalls Melanie Elias, director of claims for Burns & Wilcoxand its in-house third-party administrator, Minute Man Adjusters.“He left out the fact that he was dressed in drag and high oncocaine.”

In another case, a man out to dinner with his wife in Texas saidhe saw a fly in his wife's salad and filed a claim becausehe became ill after seeing the fly.

“I thought it was a joke at first,” says Alda Southard, senioradjuster with York Risk Services Group of Parsippany, N.J. “Heclaimed he suffered from hypertension and anxiety—that he couldn'teat anymore at restaurants.”

The wife, says Southard, also allegedly suffered damages sinceshe got nauseous.

“We denied the claim, based on the fact there was no injury,”Southard concludes. “No one actually ate the fly.”

Iveley Donat, casualty adjuster with York, says he recentlydenied a claim from a man claiming he got whiplash in a restaurantwhen he turned quickly after a server dropped a tray.

Donat also denied a claim from a man who sliced his finger whilecutting into a steak at a restaurant.

“He claimed the knife was jagged and too sharp,” deadpansDonat.

Yet the winner from York might be the woman who filed a claimand said she received injuries when a roll of toilet paper fell onher lap while she was…well…you know.

Yeah. Claim denied.