Some Of The Strangest Insurance Policies & Claims That Happen In The Real World

Insurance against improbable outcomes

Insurance is something that is inevitably part of our lives as homeowners, car owners and business owners. In order to ensure that you are safeguarded against theft and damage, you have to take out insurance policies for all of these aspects of your life. There is an insurance policy to suit your every need and sometimes your budget as well. Most people are used to hearing about insurance policies and their many benefits etc. But a great majority of people have never heard about insurance against improbable outcomes.

Ask anyone about hail damage insurance, car insurance or business goods insurance and they will likely have an opinion to share. Once you mention improbable outcome insurance, they might give you a blank stare, however. Taking out insurance against improbable outcomes means taking out insurance against certain events that will most likely never take place. Some of these types of insurance policies include insurance against pregnancy (weird as that may sound), falling off a cliff and even laughing yourself to death. All of this might sound like a bad hoax, but these types of insurance policies do exist and people do invest in them.

In Scotland, a man has taken out insurance to cover his liability should anyone take him up on his reward offer and catch the Loch Ness Monster alive! Some people in America are also insured against alien abduction and impregnation by alien beings! There are literally hundreds of improbable insurance policies to choose from and this is likely contributed to the fact that there are so many things people fear could happen to them. Many people around the world have also insured their houses against haunting and paranormal activity. They want the peace of mind that they would be insured even if there’s only a one in a million chance of anything outlandish ever happening to them. Companies who offer insurance policies against improbable outcomes very often also have traditional insurance policies to offer. So if you want to insure yourself and your house and family on both counts, you can most likely do it all with one insurer.

Taking out insurance against improbable outcomes means that you can insure yourself or any item of your choice against any unlikely event or incident. Celebrities are very fond of insuring parts of their body should anything happen to it during the course of their career. Of course, you can never rule out the possibility that something could indeed happen to any part of a person’s body, but when people start insuring their buttocks, one has to start wondering! There are a great many celebrities that have insured parts of their body. The most popular body parts to insure are buttocks, breasts and legs, obviously amongst the female celebs.

Here are some examples of celebrities who have insured parts of their body.

Bette Davis – insured her waist for $28 000
Dolly Parton – (obviously) insured her breasts for up to $600 000
Rihanna – insured her legs for $1 million
Bruce Springsteen – insured his vocal chords for $6 million

These are only a few examples out of the multiple celebrities who have insured themselves and their bodies against improbable outcomes. It’s very unlikely that anything would have happened to Bette Davis’ waist or Dolly Parton’s bosom. It seems a little more plausible for Rihanna to insure her legs (many models also do this) and for Bruce Springsteen to insure his vocal chords as this is part of their career and acts.

Some improbable insurance policies do border on the ridiculous though. America Ferrera has had her smile insured by Aquafresh for $10 million! And that’s not the worst of it. Julia Roberts has allegedly insured her smile for $30 million!

Digging into the pool of improbable outcome insurance policies is not all in a day’s work however. There are hundreds of different scenarios that these types of policies can cater for. It’s literally a case of, if you can think of it, you can be insured for it! To end off, it has been reported that Mariah Carey has had her legs insured for, wait for it … $1 Billion.

Insurance against improbable outcomes

There are many different things that people are afraid of during their lifespan. Some people are afraid of everyday things like getting hijacked, robbed or getting stuck in an elevator. Others have real phobias such as arachnophobia, claustrophobia and many more. Getting insurance against theft and hijacking is an ordinary thing. Now you can also insure yourself against getting stuck in a small space if you’re claustrophobic or against getting attacked by any member of the arachnid family. Sound weird? It is, but it is also true. Insurance policies against improbable outcomes are there for your perusal.

Specialised insurance companies are offering all kinds of insurance policies regarding the weird and wonderful. You will now be able to insure yourself against getting attacked by Bigfoot or a Yeti. You can also insure yourself and your family against haunting and alien abductions. If you live in constant fear of kidnapping or if you fear that one of your children might get kidnapped, you will be relieved to know that you can get insurance against kidnapping as well. This might not ensure that the kidnapping doesn’t take place but the insurance policy will be able to pay out the ransom amount for you.

You can even take out pregnancy insurance or what is called “twin insurance”. If you are pregnant, you will be able to insure yourself against having twins. This means that should you end up with twins unexpectedly; the policy can help cover the extra expenses. Obviously you have to completely familiarise yourself with all the terms and conditions of insurance policies against improbable outcomes. These policies are drawn up specifically for certain instances and events and you have to make sure you understand completely what you are signing up for before putting pen to paper.

If you fancy yourself a celebrity you might want to follow Hollywood’s worn out trend of insuring parts of your body! Many insurance companies are ready to help you ensure your behind, legs, teeth, smile, breasts and anything else body-related that you want to look after.

Insurance is not a pleasant topic amongst people these days, especially with the cost of premiums skyrocketing and people not being able to keep up financially. Mention insurance and most people grimace as they think of their car insurance and home insurance policies. Not to mention life insurance and retirement policies. All around, it seems that insurance is just a big pain in the butt for most. What if you could insure that butt of yours? Now you can! It might seem ridiculous but there are many insurance providers out there that offer insurance against improbable outcomes and insuring your butt is part of it. And this is not even the most outrageous thing that people are insuring themselves for.

Especially amongst celebrities, there is the tendency to take out insurance policies against improbable outcomes. This includes accidents that would affect their ability to carry on with their career. For this very reason, many celebrities insure the body parts that earn them the most money. Many actresses are insuring their legs, breasts, smiles, eyes, voices and butts for millions of rands or dollars. This is to ensure that they would receive payment from the insurance company if they are no longer able to earn their salary. It is very unlikely that anything permanently damaging would happen to eyes, voices, butts etc and this is why this type of insurance is called insurance against improbable outcomes.

Some people have even been known to insure their noses! This is especially true for wine connoisseurs as they need their nose and taste buds to comment and report on wine tastings. There are online casino operators that offer online insurance as well! Thousands of people participate in online gambling on a daily basis and online casinos are now offering cashback insurance in the case of non-winning. The idea behind this is obviously to get more people to gamble online, so this might not be the best type of insurance to put your trust in. In this case it might be better to abstain from gambling altogether rather than lose any money, even with the promise of cashback rewards. On that note check out onlinelotto.co.za they operate a free lottery service that uses an insurance policy to pay out winners if someone hit’s the jackpot.

Insurance is nothing new these days and there are many different types of insurance policies to pick and choose from. What many people are not aware of is that you can insure yourself against almost anything. Many insurance companies have taken it upon themselves to offer insurance policies for improbable outcomes. This means that you can insure yourself or your family for almost any type of event that is unlikely to happen. Sound silly? It might be, but there are thousands of people globally that insure themselves against all sorts of silly sounding things like Bigfoot visits, alien encounters, unexpected twins or triplets and even ghost hunting.

Retail stores have also taken to insuring themselves against improbable outcomes such as extreme weather-related incidents. Many companies take out insurance on their employees and this covers them in the event that an employee absconds from work. In order to find the best insurance company that will be able to provide an insurance policy according to your specific needs, you would have to do some in-depth checks and look around before settling for any one insurance company.

If you are interested in having yourself or your home insured against any type of improbable outcome, the best thing to do is to find an insurance company that specialised in this type of insurance. Get some first-hand accounts of other clients’ experiences or ask the insurance company for testimonials that can be verified. Most companies don’t have any issues with providing this for prospective clients. Taking out this type of insurance is not a joke and you really have to be aware of what you’re signing up for in order to avoid any surprises down the line.

There are some outrageous cases of insurance policies against improbable outcomes as well. There are people out there who insure their butt cheeks, chest hair, toes, fingers, smiles and the list goes on. It seems as the demand for this type of insurance grows, so will the list of things that can be insured.

The main thing that people seem to remember about insurance policies is that they cost a lot of money each month and that they basically amount to nothing unless you need to claim from them. When it comes to insurance against improbable outcomes, this idea seems to double in size. People all over the world insure themselves against the most unlikely events and incidents you can imagine and they pay quite a substantial amount each month for this insurance.

One of the weirdest things that people insure themselves against is alien abduction and even alien impregnation. Considering that there is no substantial proof that aliens even exist, this type of insurance seems kind of pointless. However, there are many people that firmly believe in their existence and they fear any type of encounter. These people are very likely to take out insurance against aliens.

The hot trend In Hollywood at the moment is celebrities insuring weird parts of their bodies. From smiles to noses to hair to skin, it seems that anything goes when it comes to taking out insurance against improbable outcomes. Whereas a policy on body parts might pay out a substantial sum of money should the policy ever be claimed against, an insurance policy on alien abduction is worth almost nothing.

It seems that even game shows are benefiting from insurance policies against improbable outcomes. Many television game shows take out insurance against large prize winners. This ensures that they don’t have to pay any prizes or rewards out of their own pockets as the money will be claimed from the insurance policy.

As unbelievable as it might sound, you can even take out an insurance policy against reincarnation. If you die and come back to earth as some kind of insect or animal, you will be able to claim from your insurance policy, provided you can prove who you were when you were alive. There are also insurance policies available that can be taken out on CEO’s or directors of major companies. Should anything happen to them, the policy will payout to cover the money shortfall that might occur due to them not being able to perform their job functions.

Making your home insurance fit your budget

Money is what makes the world go round. If you don’t have enough of it, many doors remain closed and you won’t be able to afford the things you really need or want. People all around the globe are struggling financially as the cost of living escalates and their salaries remain the same. On top of this they have to keep up their financial obligations at all costs. This means car, house and insurance payments. Not having insurance is no longer an option in the dangerous times we live in.

If you are lucky enough to own your own home and your own car, it is absolutely essential to take out insurance on both. Home insurance often costs a lot more than car insurance because there are so many more risks tied to houses and buildings. Keeping up with insurance payments is not always the easiest thing, therefore you need to plan very carefully when considering taking out home insurance so that you will be able to afford it over the long term.

There are quite a few things that you can do to lower your home insurance premium and help it to fit better within your monthly budget. First of all, you can consider upping your excess amount. The excess amount in your home insurance policy is the agreed upon amount between you and the insurance company that is payable by yourself in the case that you put in a claim. Once you increase this amount, the insurance company will automatically lower your premium.

Once you improve the security measures in your home and on your premises, your insurance company will also award you a lower premium. They do this because increased security measures significantly decrease the crime risk on your premises and therefore also decrease the likeliness that you would claim from the policy. Installing an alarm system with a panic button and electric fencing on your premises will increase the security of your home and also give you peace of mind.

Taking out home insurance doesn’t have to be the hardest thing in the world; neither does it have to be the most expensive thing in the world. Whether you live in a mansion or a modest two-bedroom home, there are many ways to make your home insurance fit your existing budget. The very first thing you need to do is to make a list of everything that needs to be insured inside your home and on your premises. Make sure to take your time and draw up a comprehensive list that you can hand over to an insurance company. The company will then be able to provide you with a detailed quote for home insurance that encompasses everything on the list.

From the quote provided you will be able to deduce whether you can fit the premium into your budget or not. Never over-commit yourself and be brutally honest with yourself and the insurance company. Most insurance companies are very willing to adjust the amount of a premium according to a client’s specific needs. Try to get multiple quotes online. It is faster and more convenient and you will be able to compare multiple quotes at the same time. Most insurance companies have dedicated call centres that can assist you with any queries you might have about quotes.

Keep in mind that the area you reside in also weighs in on your premium amount. If you stay in a bad weather-prone area or high crime area, your home insurance premium will be higher than normal. Installing weather-proof measures and security measures in your home will assist in decreasing the premium amount again. Be sure to only insure the most valuable goods inside your homes such as jewellery and art. Appliances can always be replaced out of your pocket if need be. Don’t include them on your house content insurance unless it’s really necessary. You also need to be very honest about the value of all the items you include in your insurance policy.

There are so many things that could go wrong in your home and this is the very reason that home insurance is essential. Many homeowners prefer not taking out home insurance but this is very dangerous. Should there be a fire or freak weather similar to Hurricane Sandy, you could lose your home if you cannot afford to repair it out of your own pocket. The whole purpose of home insurance is that the homeowner doesn’t have to pay too much out of his own pocket when it comes to repairing a damaged home or replacing stolen goods.

Not having any kind of insurance could mean disaster when unexpected incidents occur in a house or on-premises. Taking out home insurance starts out with getting several quotes from different insurance companies. After comparing these quotes, you can personally visit the various insurance companies should you choose to do so. Dedicated consultants will be able to assist you with any queries you might have.

Make sure that you don’t choose the cheapest policy just because of the cheap premium. Doing this could end up costing you a lot more money in the long run. Have the consultants explain to you exactly what the different policies have to offer and what you can claim for and what is not covered in the policies. Also ask them how much you will be able to save if you install extra security measures in your home.

Increasing your excess amount on your insurance policy will guarantee you a lower premium. Just keep in mind that the insurance company will keep you to this amount should you claim from the policy in the future. Make sure that you will be able to afford the excess amount comfortably. Find out from the insurance company whether they will be able to offer cover on your household goods as well as the house as a whole. It’s always cheaper to take out one policy for your home and your household goods rather than taking out two different policies.

It is not always easy to make the right choice when it comes to home insurance. There are so many different types of policies and cover to choose from and a great many people choose wrong. Of course they only realise this when its time to claim from the policy they’ve taken out and problems start occurring. Many factors need to be taken into consideration when searching and applying for home insurance.

First of all you need to determine how much of a risk you are to an insurance company. You need to take into consideration the area you live in, the crime rate of the area, the safety of your home and what additional security measures you could possibly invest in, in order to get a better premium on your home insurance policy.

When you approach a home insurance provider, you need to have a very solid idea as to how much your house is worth. Underinsuring your house will cost you very dearly in the long run and the insurance company will be smiling all the way. You need to keep in mind that an insurance company is not there to be friends with you. Insurance companies are business minded and their first concern is profit, not you and your issues.

Never sign up with an insurance company simply because they are cheaper than the rest. Make a little space in your monthly budget to cater for a slightly higher premium if the company offers you better benefits than the cheaper company. Never settle for lower when you can get higher for a little more money.

Be sure that you understand the whole policy from beginning to end. If you take out a basic policy you need to know exactly what it covers and what it doesn’t. The same goes for a comprehensive insurance policy. Always ask the insurance company what you can do to qualify for a discount. As long as it’s within reason, they can give you many options as to how you can qualify for a lesser premium.

There are many different home insurance companies out there offering all sorts of wonderful benefits and incredible premiums. However, one has to sift through the empty promises and get to the real stuff when looking around for home insurance. There are so many home owners who have been bitterly disappointed and have even suffered great financial loss due to inferior home insurance policies. Here are a few guidelines you can follow in order to ensure that you choose the best home insurance that fits your budget and will give you peace of mind:

– Make absolutely sure what items you want to insure on top of insuring your house. This is very important as you need to have the correct cover for your household items as well as the structure of your house.

– Ask the insurance company if everything you require to be covered will be covered in your insurance policy or if you have to take out extra insurance. Taking out extra insurance might be heavy on your pocket, so find out from the insurance company if they can work something out for you.

– Never be in a hurry when looking for insurance policies. When you rush about, you are very likely to forget something or miss something. When it comes to home insurance you have to have enough time to read through all the documents and make sure you understand everything the insurance policy entails.

– Make sure the company you are dealing with is legit. The worst thing you can do is to enter into a contract with a fly-by-night company only to have them disappear after a few months with your hard-earned cash.

– If you have friends or contacts in the building or contracting industry you will be able to find out whether the insurance company has a good reputation when it comes to paying out claims. This is very important information as you don’t want to have to struggle to get your money out of the insurance company should you have to hand in a claim at some point.

Making your home insurance fit your budget

Choosing the right home insurance and making sure that you can afford it can seem like an uphill task, unless you know exactly how to approach the process. If you are a home owner, you will know the pride of owning your own home and the absolute need to protect it from any harm. A home is where you build your life and dreams and where your family can feel safe and protected. For this reason you need to ensure that your home is insured against all kinds of things that can threaten your safe and happy home.

When you take out a new home insurance policy, you need to be very sure that you take out an all encompassing policy. In most cases it is much better to over-insure your home than to under-insure it. You can always change your policy later should you be over-insured. Home insurance covers your home in the event of fire, flood damage, hail damage, theft, robbery etc. With some insurance companies you have to include fire insurance as an optional extra. Find out from the insurance company whether this is the case before signing any contract with them.

You also need to decide whether you want to ensure your house only or if you want to include home contents in the insurance policy. It would probably fit your budget better to include both options in one policy. Also find out from the company exactly which home contents you can insure and what the extra cost would entail.

If you have a hobby that includes collections such as DVD’s, antique items or anything else in that line, you will also be able to include these in your home contents insurance policy. Be sure to disclose the exact amount of what your collection is worth so that you can insure it properly. Always be very honest when it comes to the value of any home contents. Lying on your insurance application is guaranteed to get you in a world of trouble when it comes to claiming from the policy.

More wacky insurance claims

They are out there. We might not always believe it but they are. Those people who come up with the weirdest and wackiest insurance claims ever. There have been some beauties over the years and below is a list of some of the wackiest insurance claims ever received by insurance companies:

Many drivers love transporting their pets wherever they go. This has become a common sight in cars on highways and by-ways everywhere.

Less common are insurance claims by drivers who claim to have mistaken their dog’s head for the gear lever or handbrake lever of their car. Believe it or not, such claims have been made before!
Another driver (who shall remain anonymous) has claimed from his insurance policy for damage done to his car by a peacock. Apparently the bird was frightened by seeing its own reflection in the bright shiny exterior of the car and he started clawing at the car furiously.
In a mad attempt to swat a fly while driving (never a great idea) a driver managed to wrap his car around a telephone pole. At least this is the story he told his insurance company when trying to claim for his damaged car.
While driving calmly on the highway, a driver caused a multi-vehicle pile up when he suddenly noticed a spider hanging from a spider web around his rear view mirror.
A couple who went on holiday came back home to claim from their insurance policy as their car was damaged by a pair of overeager cows who licked it into oblivion. A really weird case of strange but true.
Yet another driver tried to convince his insurance company that he had a legitimate claim as an invisible vehicle drove right into his car and then vanished into thin air.

The vast majority of these types of claims are never paid out because obviously the stories are way too out there for insurance companies to take seriously. This is not to say, however, that the stories can’t be true on some level.

Filing an insurance claim is serious business. The accuracy of the claim and the details provided to the insurance company is of vital importance as this will determine whether your claim will be paid out or not. Many people cause accidents and then try to cover up the real train of events so that they can get the maximum payout from their claim. Many of these same people don’t think their plan through before filing a claim and then they end up relaying ridiculous stories to the insurance company. Below are a few examples of such cases:

A driver trying to explain how an accident happened, stated that he had one eye on the car behind him, one eye on a truck driving in front of him and the other on the pedestrian on the side of the road. Clearly the driver is a triple-eyed monster of some sort.
Belief in the supernatural also plays a role in car insurance claims. One driver failed in his attempt to explain his broken windshield and chalked it up to Voodoo when asked by his insurance company.
In another instance a driver filled out his claim form and stated on it that he had hooted his car horn in order to try and avoid colliding with a cow in the middle of the road. When asked if there was any type of warning from the other party (weird question, right?) the driver said Moo.
There has even been a driver who stated on his claim form that his windshield was cracked because some squirrels decided to have a nut war on it.
Christmas trees have also been implicated as culprits in road accidents. One driver claimed that a Christmas tree flew from the roof of the vehicle in front of him, causing him to jump and run off the road.

Even though the above claims might sound very humorous, one should never underestimate the importance of insurance for when real accidents occur and even weird accidents like the above examples.

Insurance claims don’t always just involve house and car claims. There are many insurance claims involving travelling and holiday destinations as well.

One of the most well-known cases of strange insurance claims involves a couple who went on holiday and spent most of their time outside soaking up the sun and exploring different locations. On a particular day they returned to their holiday home just to find that monkeys had broken in and stolen their clothes. And oddly enough, their insurance policy paid out their claim.
A woman became a one in a million statistic when a coconut fell on her head while she was traipsing around in Sri Lanka. Due to the fact that she did not (luckily) need extensive medical attention, her claim was also paid out.
In a case that can be attributed to karma, a man was so mesmerised by a group of girls in bikini’s walking past him that he did not notice the bus shelter right in front of him and he ended up walking right into it and breaking his nose.
In a grisly twist to the tale of wacky insurance claims, some guy randomly walked down the road having nothing better to do, when he came across a dead animal in the road. Since the animal had been there evidently for quite a long time, it qualified more as road kill than animal. The man then decided to pick up what’s left of the road kill and present it to his insurance company as his own pet. He was hoping to claim on his pet insurance policy that covered the death of any of his pets. Needless to say, the insurance company was having none of it.
A family decided to go on a camping holiday and were having a grand time relaxing and hiking. While they were sitting in their tent one evening shortly before they were due to return home, an unexpected visitor joined them. From the sky. A parachutist landed on their tent by accident and destroyed the few belongings they had with them in the process.
There are many bizarre unexplainable things in this life. Things like the Loch Ness Monster, UFO sightings, mysterious disappearances and more. These days you can add insurance claims to the list as well. Insurance holders have gone all out on several occasions to convince their insurance companies that their claims are legit even though they came up with the most bizarre and weird story ever. For instance, a man in Britain put in a claim to his insurance company stating that he had been abducted by aliens. Stranger than this claim is the fact that his insurance company paid him one million pounds.
Another story involving a weird insurance claim is about a man who was on a cruise ship enjoying a nice vacation. When the ship struggled through some rough waters he started feeling a little sick and then later very sick. He had to run to the side of the ship as nausea overwhelmed him and while being ill into the water he lost his false teeth as well. In this case his insurance policy also covered this claim.
A lady going on a ski trip decided to buy herself some nice new skis as this would be the first time she was going skiing. When she arrived at her holiday destination she waited and waited in vain for snow and eventually went home disappointed as there was no powder for her to ski on. She decided to put in a claim to her insurance company regarding the skis she bought and couldn’t use. And her claim was paid.
Then there is also the man who claimed that he had accidentally shot his television set because he had not realised his gun was loaded in the first place. And his story convinced his insurance company into paying his claim so he could purchase another TV.

Not everyone is as lucky, however. Most of these bizarre and weird claims by insurance holders are summarily dismissed by insurance companies. Mainly because they’re not insured for these events and well, because the claims are weird.

There are many disasters that can befall us as mere humans. We really and small and insignificant parts of the universe and it doesn’t take much for us to get hurt or worse. When you hear about horrible things that happen to other people, you might sigh in relief and think to yourself “I’m so glad it wasn’t me.” However there is a small light at the end of the tunnel, especially for those of us who are paranoid. Should a cow fall off a cliff and onto your moving car at the bottom, injuring you and your car, you can claim from your insurance. Provided you insured yourself against this event, that is.

If you think that we are pulling your leg by saying, please know that we are not. There are many documented cases where people have claimed from their insurance for the most outrageous but real events. In one incident a man claimed from this insurance policy for damaged caused to his car by a zebra running head-on into it.

If you love doing fruit and vegetable shopping, this one is for you. You will be able to insure yourself against an apple or potato falling out of the bag and rolling under your brake pedal, causing you to collide with another car. If you don’t want to risk it, you might want to load your groceries in the boot of your car instead of packing them on the back seat.

Dog lovers will be glad to know that if they are busy painting the inside of their house and they happen to leave their puppy alone in the room for a couple of minutes only to find upon their return that the puppy decided to join in the fun by stepping in the paint and then traipsing all over the room, they will be able to claim for the damage from their household insurance policy. And should a bull, for some unknown reason, decide to run into your garden and trample your flowers, you will also be able to put in a claim at your insurance company.

More strange insurance claims

Mobile phones and smartphones are all the rage in these modern times we find ourselves in. Therefore it is only natural that people would insure themselves to the hilt in order to ensure that they would always be able to get their phone repaired or replaced should anything go wrong. Some of the most common incidents that would require an insurance claim is when a phone is stolen or accidentally dropped on the floor or in the pool. However, some claims regarding damaged mobile phones is downright ridiculous.

A mobile phone user accidentally flushed his iPhone down the toilet and by the time he realised this, the phone was seriously waterlogged and damaged. The insurance company did not budge when it came to refusing the claim.

An avid traveller decided to go on a safari and stopped somewhere next to the veld to take some pictures of monkeys playing on the side of the road. When he returned from the safari he immediately put in a claim with his insurance company stating that his phone had been stolen. The culprit? A monkey.

On a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean, a couple decided to play “Titanic Titanic” and were re-enacting some parts of the movie. When it came to the part where Jack Dawson leans over the railing and shouts that he is the king of the world, the couple tried to film themselves doing the same with a mobile phone. The end result being that the phone followed the same route as the Heart of the Ocean in the movie. It is not known whether their insurance claim was paid.

Technology and fireworks are not a good combination. Just ask the pyrotechnician who lost his iPhone when he left it too close to a timed fireworks show. As the fireworks started firing off, the phone was skyrocketed into the air and it exploded in spectacular fashion. Although it is not known whether the insurance claim was paid out on the iPhone, it made for a very good story!