Exploding ginger beer: Insurer reveals 'quirky' customer claims

AA Insurance says homemade ginger beer exploding in the fridge is among the more quirky claims paid.
AA Insurance says homemade ginger beer exploding in the fridge is among the more quirky claims paid. Photo credit: Getty.

A horse leaping onto a car bonnet and ginger beer exploding in the fridge are among the more quirky examples of things that can go wrong and cost money to fix, an insurer says. 

A horse grazing on a bank near the side of the road is unlikely to be a risk to motorists. But according to AA Insurance, one woman experienced a horse jump onto her car bonnet as she was driving past. Both the woman and horse were unharmed, but the rental car she was driving while her own car was being fixed was written off. 

AA Insurance says another rare incident involved a horse jumping on a car bonnet while the driver went past, causing the car to be written off.
AA Insurance says another rare incident involved a horse jumping on a car bonnet while the driver went past, causing the car to be written off. Photo credit: Supplied/AA Insurance.

Another person had an explosion in their fridge and holes in their ceiling after making ginger beer. And one man set the roof and guttering of his home on fire after setting bug spray alight to remove a wasp nest.

AA Insurance customer relations manager Amelia Macandrew said these were among the more unusual claims the company has covered, costing anywhere from $1000 to $100,000.

"One customer had put her homemade ginger beer in the fridge, when there was a large explosion...the ginger beer had broken the glass bottles it was stored in [and] other items  including a glass shelf and plastic cheese drawer," Macandrew said. 

"Broken glass became embedded in the fridge, cracked the outside plastic covering, and also made holes in the kitchen ceiling…[the] cost of the damage was almost $1000."

Yet another rare example involved a contact lense flying out of someone's eye when they opened the car window, costing $6300 in damage.

"One customer's contact lenses flew out of her eyes when she opened the window...lack of vision caused her to rear-end the car in front of her, who was then shunted onto the car in front of them," Macandrew added. 

Another lost control of their car while re-tying a bikini top. And for one person, going the extra mile was a step too far.

"A customer was parked in a car park when they noted another driver's car had 'conked out'. 

"The driver got out of his car to push it off the main road, but mistakenly pushed it into a pole, which subsequently fell onto our customer's car causing around $2400 in damage," Macandrew said. 

Insurance doesn't cover everything and these examples are rare.  But AAI says there's a benefit to having some insurance, and that's peace of mind.

"Some claims haven't caused too much financial damage compared to the amount of chaos unleashed [but] others have reinforced the benefits of having some form of cover to save customers forking out many thousands of dollars from their own pocket."