When it comes to caravan insurance claims you might think most submitted by the over 50's are concerned with cocoa stains on velour seats!

However, Saga - those purveyors of products to those surviving more than half a century - have revealed they spent half a million quid repairing their customers 'vans in 2015  

And some of the claims are quite surprising - and while some include broken windows or accidental damage - none of those mentioned involve cocoa or other malt drink substitutes!

Saga says some of its more unusual claims include

  • Losing control of a blowtorch
  • Runaway wheelie bins
  • A loo looter

THE LOO LOOTER: One policyholder kept his caravan in storage over winter. However, when he got a call from the storage unit manager saying someone had broken into his caravan he dashed over to assess the damage. At first sight it appeared the thief had just stolen the usual items but on closer inspection the customer noticed the robber had made off with the fridge and toilet. While it only cost £500 to replace the loo, the thief caused more than £7,000 worth of damage ripping out the various fixtures and fittings.

BLOOMING BLOWTORCH: A customer liked to park his caravan on his drive to keep a close eye on it. However, he got a bit of a shock when he spotted a neighbour using a blowtorch to kill stubborn weeds. The overzealous gardener got too close to a bush causing it to catch fire and blister the caravan’s paintwork. It cost more than £2,000 to repair.

RUNAWAY WHEELIE BINS: A customer parked his caravan on his drive for the evening so he could clean it the following day. However, when he woke up he discovered a runaway wheelie bin had crashed into his motorhome multiple times causing more than £4,000 damage.

TIPPING POINT: A policyholder popped to the shops and while he was out the weather took a turn for the worse. When he got home he got a nasty surprise as he discovered his caravan lying on its side. The strong winds had tipped his caravan over causing almost £2,000 damage.

HUMONGOUS HAILSTONES: One policyholder was on holiday in their caravan when bad weather woke them up. When they peeked out of the window to see the storm in action they noticed golf ball sized hailstones hitting the caravan. The hailstones dented the caravan so much that it cost almost £5,000 to fix.

UN-PHEASANT EXPERIENCE: A holiday ended rather unpleasantly when a pheasant tried to make a dash across the road. As well as damaging the customer’s car, the colourful bird bounced off the caravan causing almost £2000 damage.