SO, as one of your fleet vehicles is dragged in missing a bumper and wing mirror, what excuse does your driver give? Ice on the road? Perhaps a careless old lady motorist?

How about a frozen squirrel?

Laugh if you must, but such an excuse comes top of a list of weird insurance claims received by Norwich Union over the past year. The list below makes quite an entertaining read. But a Norwich Union spokeswoman said there was a serious message behind the inanities.

She said: ‘Who would have thought that frozen squirrels and potatoes could be such hazards?

‘We see a lot of strange claims but we were surprised at how many involved animals and food, of all things. We can hardly tell drivers to beware of flying kebabs and frozen squirrels when they are on the roads, but this shows how important it is to be aware of what could be going on around you at all times.’

What’s the best excuse you’ve heard for a prang involving one of your drivers? Email fleetnews@emap.com and let us know.

Examples of the claims made to Norwich Union

1, ‘A frozen squirrel fell out of a tree and crashed through the windscreen on to the passenger seat’

2. ‘I was driving round a bend, one of the doors opened and a frozen kebab flew out, damaging a passing car’

3. I couldn’t brake because a potato fell out of my bag and was lodged behind the brake’

4. ‘A herd of cows licked my car and caused damage to the paintwork’

5. ‘A wasp went down my trouser leg which made me hit the accelerator and prang the car in front.’

6. ‘The car was parked on the road when a reindeer fell on the bonnet and crushed it’