Holly, jolly claims follies

It wouldn’t be the holiday season without someone trying to ignite their house by attaching burning candles to the Christmas tree.

An internet search for “crazy Christmas claims” finds insurance broker websites rife with holiday-related claims in the neighbourhood of $500,000 because someone left the room with burning candles on the tree or forgot to turn the tree lights off before leaving home.

More than eight out of 10 U.S. residents decorate their homes for the winter holidays, and a whopping 47% reported using candles, said a November 2022 survey by Selective Insurance. A further 66% reported leaving their indoor Christmas lights on while no one was home. These are fire risks just begging for a claim denial.

To make matters more precarious, these festive pine trees are often dry. Fifty-four per cent of U.S. residents surveyed by Selective Insurance said they had a real Christmas tree, but only 17% water it every day (as recommended by the National Fire Safety Association). Sixty-seven per cent watered the tree fewer than three times a week.

“Those who choose to decorate should take precautions to lessen their risk, including unplugging holiday lights when they leave the house or go to bed, keeping candles at least a foot away from flammable material [like dry Christmas trees] and being mindful of overloading outlets,” advised ALM PropertyCasualty 360.

Here are four more seasonal claims surprisingly common during the holidays:

Squirrel damage

One insurer got a claim for soot damage on a carpet next to the chimney on Christmas Day, suggesting the Jolly Old Elf needed to wipe his boots before putting the gifts under the tree, Martin Insurance reported. Turns out the damage was caused by “a hungry squirrel that had been tempted down the chimney by the array of nuts left out in the fireplace.”

In another bizarre claim, a family drove to a local tree farm to harvest their tree. They chose a very round, very dense fir tree, as told by CV Mason & Company Insurance. The tree farm owner wrapped the tree and helped the family secure it to the top of their Suburban. When they got home and secured the tree in its stand, they cut away the netting that held the branches firm. As those branches fluffed out, an angry squirrel raced around the living room, causing insured damage.

Interactive gaming damage

Watch out for flying Nintendo Wii handsets! One variation on this story has youth getting a bit intense while playing a new Nintendo game and throwing the handset at mom and dad’s new plasma-screen TV. In this particular instance, the insurer paid out almost $1,400 for a replacement TV, Martin Insurance stated.

But when you get inebriated adults taking their turn, prepare for a different claims result.

ADI Benefits reported a woman having a Christmas party and inviting friends over for a Wii game competition to show off her new 65-inch flat screen TV. One of her ‘over-refreshed’ guests lost his grip on the controller while playing bowling, and it smashed into the TV screen. Asked by an insurance adjuster if the guest showed up to the party intoxicated, the woman confessed she had supplied everyone with Tequila shots to get them in the party mood. Claim denied.

Decorations in the attic

When visiting a couple’s home, an insurance adjuster noticed a large hole in the dining room ceiling and a destroyed dining room table, per ADI Benefits. The wife asked her husband to go into the attic and bring down some Christmas decorations, the couple told the adjuster. “The husband refused to do it as he felt he was too heavy to withstand the attic floor,” ADI Benefits said. “In a fit of rage, the woman decided to retrieve the decorations herself and climbed into the attic. Unfortunately she ended up falling through the ceiling and floor of the attic onto the dining room table.”

Don’t laugh, Aviva reported receiving 11 claims in 2020 for people putting their feet through ceilings while retrieving Christmas decorations from their lofts.

Cleaning up carefully

And when all the holiday festivities are over, pay attention to what you’re throwing out.

In 2022, “claims [were] made for 15 items being accidentally thrown out with discarded wrapping paper – including earrings, spectacles and hearing aids,” Omni Davis Insurance Brokers cautioned.

Feature image courtesy of iStock.com/golero