What do you make of these claims?

1. The tragedy of the sinking of the Titanic resulted in numerous claims from survivors. One of the highest-value claims was from a lady who asked for $1 million to compensate for the loss of her husband, a theatre producer in New York. Some say that even the shipping company wouldn’t have received that much to cover the loss of their famous liner. In a more modest quest for compensation, another survivor of the vessel sought $100 and $200 respectively for his two dogs, one of which he apparently valued more than the other.

2. “My car was attacked by a tree.” That sums up the car insurance claim from a man who was driving home after a Christmas shopping spree. A Christmas tree came loose from a vehicle traveling in the opposite direction and smashed into his car. Since the culprits didn’t stop, the police allowed the victim to keep the tree as a present!

3. On her return from a visit to a zoo where the animals move around freely as cars drive through, one mother filed a claim after her vehicle was the target of an all-out attack by some overexcited animals. The story has it that the mom in question had wanted her children to see the animals up close and so had rubbed her car with red meat!

4. Baby formula is expensive and must be kept cool. So when a refrigerator broke down, spoiling all the precious liquid inside it, one woman decided to make a claim under her homeowner’s insurance. We hope the baby did not suffer too much from the incident and is doing well.

5. One insurer received a claim for compensation after the side of a claimant’s car was dented by ... a dog’s tail. The Great Dane was so excited at the prospect of a car ride that she expressed her enthusiasm by frantically wagging her tail — a little too close to the vehicle!

6. Consider the case of an insurer who receives a claim for the replacement of an electronic device that was deliberately buried in the sand on a beach. Unlikely you think? That’s exactly what happened when two young children decided to bury the family’s video camera to keep it safe while they went for a short swim. The problem is that they were unable to find it again ... so we'll never know if it still works.

And there are many other strange incidents that have given rise to insurance claims — a wig that caught fire during a barbecue, dentures eaten by a dog, stolen garbage, and the list goes on. Although they may seem far-fetched, such requests are always taken seriously by insurers and carefully assessed, taking into account the good faith of the claimants and the kind of coverage they carry.