Carlisle, England
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Every year insurance providers receive calls from customers making claims, some stressful, some urgent, some distressing, and some rather unusual.

Insurance intermediary HomeProtect receives calls from customers making many strange claims every year, but 2017 certainly has been an interesting year, the company says.

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Here are the top 10 unusual home insurance claims for 2017:

1. Flying greenhouse: Sales director and his wife returned to their home after a weekend away to find the greenhouse had blown away! They asked around the neighbourhood and realised that the neighbours had noticed the flying greenhouse on the Friday.

2. We've got a bathtub down: Family in Yorkshire were shocked when the bath fell through the bathroom floor into the dining room below! A plumber found that a slow leak had caused the chipboard floor to perish over time.

3. Smashing squirrels: A photographer was surprised to find two grey squirrels in the kitchen with broken wine glasses and damage that cost over £1,600 to fix. There was a broken window, but the family puzzled over how the squirrels had done that!

4. Varnished MacBook: Family with five children made a claim for a damaged Apple MacBook. Their nine year old daughter had accidentally knocked it over while trying to stop her younger sister spreading nail varnish all over the sofa!

5. Vanishing gold: A pub manager went to a concert over a weekend in the summer, "there was jumping around and lots of dancing", during which he lost over £17,000 worth of gold chains.

6. Peeing intruder: An estate agent was shocked to find an intruder had got into his rented flat and "peed on the sofa and slept in my bed", causing over £1,400 worth of damage.

7. Combustible handbag: Company director's wife put her handbag on the hob at home which accidentally lit the ignition causing the handbag to burst into flames!!

8. Sliding bags: A couple in East Sussex made a claim for a bag that had fallen off the cliff into the sea below. Inside the bag were the couple's iPad and iPhone, both smashed to smithereens!

9. Mighty mouse: A busy household of five adults and two children were upset to find a "big mouse running past them" in the kitchen. It had chewed a cereal box and a few other things but couldn't be tracked down after that.

10. Cracked up: Retired couple were surprised when their grown-up son took a hot bath with a cup of tea and ended up breaking the toilet pan with the mug! He'd balanced the mug on top of the cistern and it had slipped off into the toilet with such a force it cracked the porcelain.

Stories like these might be funny to read, if they're not happening to you and your family. But reading what happened and imagining the cost and hassle of dealing with these situations in your own home does highlight the importance of making sure you have home insurance.