Defenestrated dentists and burning whisky: insurer reveals weirdest commercial claims

In the early 1960s, a payout was made after a dentist was kicked out of a window by a patient coming round from an anaesthetic. Photograph: Alan Porritt/AAP

Have you ever had an accident at work that wasn’t your fault? A delve into the archive of a major insurer has revealed some of the strangest valid commercial claims, including recompense for a defenestrated dentist and a farm worker blown into a vat of liquid manure.

The trawl through 325 years of business insurance claims received by Aviva also reveals instances where policyholders found themselves a part of events that would end up in history books.