The insurance company trawls through its archives to reveal the curious case of a ‘poisoned hand’ and buildings ‘damnifyed by fire’ An accident involving a leap-frogging vicar and a finger injured in a corset are among the claims an insurer has paid out for over the last 325 years, a company has revealed. Aviva has plunged into its archives to unearth a “treasure trove” of claims dating back centuries, as it approaches its 325th anniversary on November 12 2021.
Researchers found that injury claims appeared throughout the archives, particularly when health and safety rules were less comprehensive than they are today. In 1884, a surgeon suffered a “poisoned hand” when unpacking a box of drugs. Another man injured his arm when his finger was caught in a woman’s corset in 1888, as he was trying to save her from drowning. Aviva said that while many of its older claims are light on detail, they also include a vicar who was awarded £120 after falling while playing leap-frog in 1875.
In another case, a London hotel keeper was awarded £25 and 10 shillings in 1878 after being hit in the eye with a cork after opening a bottle of champagne. Looking at 20th century claims, a window panel of a Morris Minor van was broken in 1934 after a circus passed by. One of its elephants put its trunk through the window, discovered the driver’s lunch and ate it, finishing it off with a loaf of bread. Unfortunately, the elephant was a tight fit in the van.
In a case in 1948, a policyholder and his family went away for a holiday, and for safety, his wife placed her jewels in the stove. On their return, the stove was lit by the husband, with disastrous results for the jewellery. Aviva’s roots can be traced back to 1696 as the Hand-in-Hand Fire and Life Insurance Company. The first policy was taken out on January 15 1697 and the first claim was paid on 11 May 1697 when houses in St Stephen’s Alley, Westminster, were “damnifyed by fire”.