Insurance provider Rias poured over thousands of home insurance claims from the past year to find out what the top 10 strangest claims were.

Here’s what made the cut:

• Sinking driveway: A Bristol man was taking a delivery of chippings at his home. When the delivery lorry backed onto his property, the driveway sank causing over £8,000 worth of damage.
• Morris dancing:  A man from Kingston-upon-Thames damaged his glasses to the tune of £385 following a particularly enthusiastic session.
• Exploding egg: A Liverpudlian woman left a boiling egg unattended and it exploded leaving over £2,800 of damage.
• Wild horses: A spooked horse and cart ran off a quiet street in Birmingham through the fences and gardens of local residents. One policyholder incurred £296 worth of damage as a result.
• Dentures in the fire: A cold Stoke-on-Trent man accidentally threw his dentures on the fire which resulted in a £150 claim.
• Marker pen: An unattended grandson with a marker pen signed his name across the sofa causing £1,200 worth of damage.
• Hanging crossbow: On hearing a loud crash, one policyholder in Walsall found that their wall mounted crossbow had bounced off the TV on its way down to the floor, causing £460 worth of damage.
• Ski machine: A policyholder in Falkirk managed to crack their TV screen while installing a ski machine in the living room, causing over £600 worth of damage.
• Stolen gate: When faced with a wrought iron gate blocking their path, a would-be burglar in Nottingham stole the gate worth £760 rather than turn back empty handed.
• Breeze: A breeze from an open window knocked over a Royal Dalton figurine worth £250.

Mishaps happen

Mark Hanson, director of marketing at Rias, said: “We help our customers with thousands of straightforward claims every year, but there are also some that stand out as the more bizarre and unfortunate. No matter how careful a person is, mishaps can happen from the most innocuous of sources and we are there to ensure our customers are supported through the strange claims, the simple claims, and everything in between.”