When the truth is too embarrassing – foolish insurance lies created by Estonian people to hide the truth

[Kristel Kobi | 22.10.2020 :]

Alongside common fender-benders, leaking roofs or storm damage, insurance providers occasionally have to deal with creative fiction writers, who formulate the embarrassing truth behind their damage into a fantastical lie, Seesam insurance writes.

Although these lies are always revealed in insurance expert assessments and, in the worst-case scenario, a fantastical lie may even qualify as fraud, there are still creative writers who expect the insurance to indemnify their damage by submitting false information. The loss adjusters of Seesam insurance bring out the most interesting attempts of Estonians to mask the embarrassing truth.

Line Manager of Seesam Property Insurance Kristel Kobi remembers a case when a laptop, which was supposedly ruined by water damage, was brought in for expert analysis. "But our experts identified a sticky substance from between the keypad which, after a more detailed examination, turned out to be rum and coke," Kobi described a colourful instance from the home office period during springtime. "For us, water as well as rum and coke qualify as water damage, so the damage was indemnified and the computer owner didn't have to lie that the rum was water."

In the versatile job of loss adjusters, a broad horizon and interesting hobbies are a great advantage. According to the insurer, one storyteller was caught only because the loss adjuster was also a passionate hunting enthusiast. "One January, we received an application for the indemnification of damages caused to a car by a collision with a deer," the expert specified. "According to the client's description, some of the damages were caused by the animal's antlers. The loss adjuster reviewed the application details and could only shake his head: it was not possible that a male deer participated in the accident. Namely, they start shedding their antlers in November and most definitely don't have antlers by January. The truth was that there was a collision with a deer, but the client was hoping to have some older damage repaired with the antler story."

Seesam's representatives also recall a case when an insured person said that wind blew a tree branch into the window and unfortunately broke the glass. "However, the parties involved had not noticed the fact that only the inner glass had been broken," Kobi remembers. Finally, the man admitted that he did not mean to lie intentionally but was ashamed of the truth – it became evident that the glass had been damaged when his sons' wrestling match went out of hand.

One of the latest cases concerns people's clever home assistants – robotic vacuum cleaners. Supposedly, a robot was cleaning the floors when a vase fell over and the water inside ruined the device. "A repair company expert confirmed, however, that the device smelled strongly and it was a pet's urine that caused the damage," Kobi said.

"In our work we see that even if a person doesn't plan to lie and there is no obvious reason for doing so, it is still done due to embarrassment over the actual reason. We encourage people to inform the insurer about whatever has happened as soon as possible. A detailed and precise description of the situation helps save our time and theirs so that we are able to reach a decision regarding indemnification of the damage and find a fast solution to the situation. Any kind of lying may extend the loss adjustment process," the representative of Seesam shared her advice.

If a person is injured, an animal participates in an accident or someone else's assets are damaged, such as a traffic sign or fence, the police must be immediately informed.