The company said it receives about 800 accidental damage claims in the UK every year where man’s best friend is involved.


Carpets, TVs and laptops are often on the receiving end of canine capers. Pic: Istock

An insurance company discovered that a dog who accidentally turned on the tap in his kitchen while its owner was away caused it to flood. This is one example of unusual claims for pet damage.

Aviva said it receives about 800 accidental damage claims in the UK each year where dogs play a part.

On average, dog-related claims have been valued at around PS1,100 each, it said.

Some of the more unusual claims linked to hapless hounds Aviva has dealt with include:

* Whiskey was a young labradane who was alone at home when he turned on the water tap in his kitchen. His actions flooded the room, causing about PS4,000 of damage
* A man was decorating the landing area of his home when his dog knocked over a stepladder, resulting in two litres of paint tipping down the stairs
* Carpet was damaged when an excited puppy pulled a hot iron down by tipping over an ironing board
* A dog owner had buckets of water on the floor while cleaning out her fish tank. The dog ran by, got caught between charging cables, and pulled the laptop out of one of the buckets
*. One dog was excited to see another dog on television, and jumped up and down and knocked it off the stand

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Sarah Poulter, external communications manager at Aviva, told Sky News: “I’m a dog-owner myself and am used to seeing the odd pup-related incident – but thankfully nothing quite on the same scale as those experienced by some of our customers.

“Whiskey clearly is a skilled dog. However, his owners were not impressed at first sight of the mess he made. We were able fix the problem. This just shows that whisky and water do not always go together. “

Aviva’s UK property claims director, Kelly Whittington, also recognised the claims caused by the furry friends.

“Dogs are beloved members of millions of UK homes. They get involved in all aspects of family life – and our possessions are sometimes on the receiving end”, she said.

While most policies for home insurance exclude domestic animal damage, the author urged customers to speak to their broker or insurer to verify their coverage.