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Windermere Monster Returns

I dunno. I've seen isolated waves and swells that look like that.

Not convinced, here.
 
It is true that the following story was told to me as if it were true. I do not believe it is literally true.

It happened in the course of my work as a fraud investigator for an insurance company a few years ago. I cannot give details that might allow the individual customer to be identified. I can only write the story "as told" for its amusement value.

The customer told me that he was sitting in a rowing boat on Windermere. He was fishing, and he also had his laptop out because he was working on a novel.

He caught a fish. As he was landing it into the boat using his rod and line, a giant eel, said to be 2–3 metres long, leaped from the water, trying to catch the fish that was on the line.

The giant eel landed in the rowing boat.

The fisherman, drew his knife and stabbed the eel. In the struggle, the fisherman's expensive Rolex watch came off and went over the side. Also, the laptop went over the side. The claim was for the watch and the laptop, with a combined value of a few thousand Pounds.

He did not explain what happened to the giant eel, or the knife, or why his fishing tackle did not go over the side.

I presented this story to the fraud manager, explaining that as a former scuba diver with some interest in fish, I could tell him that:
  1. Freshwater eels in this country seldom reach 1 metre in length, and never more than 1.5 metres.
  2. Eels are bottom-dwelling fish, and do not leap out of the water.
  3. The size and behaviour of the eel described by the customer were fundamentally implausible.
I recommended that we should take a firm stand from the start and simply decline the claim which was obviously fanciful.

The boss was more cautious and instructed me to arrange for the customer to be interviewed. The usual interview process, carried out by an outside agency, relied on identifying inconsistencies in the story, challenging the customer to explain the inconsistencies, and giving the customer an opportunity to choose not to proceed with the claim.

The customer stuck to his story. The interviewer identified no new inconsistencies other than the ones we had known about on day 1. As we had not rejected the claim on day 1, we were now unable to reject it on the basis of the same information. As we had no new information, we had to pay the claim.

I spoke to that customer more than once and I still think he was doing it as a bet. I know that he was in the legal profession, and I suspect that there was some sort of challenge to see who could get the daftest story past the insurance and beat the system.

However, the story piqued my interest and I did some reading up and that was the first time that I became aware of the earlier stories about a "Windermere monster" or Bownessie.
 
There's supposed to be another but man made monster in Windermere
I,v been up and down it many times in assorts of boats some with depth
and fish finders and never seen anything interesting.

<a href="
https://imgur.com/CRj8d93
"><img src="
https://imgur.com/CRj8d93
" title="source: imgur.com" /></a>
 
Mikefule said:
The customer stuck to his story. The interviewer identified no new inconsistencies other than the ones we had known about on day 1. As we had not rejected the claim on day 1, we were now unable to reject it on the basis of the same information. As we had no new information, we had to pay the claim.
.
Click to expand...
So to defraud insurance companies you just need to lie (as outlandishly as you please), without inconsistencies over time and the retelling ?

Eels are scavengers aren’t they ? So they don’t chase or strike at live prey.
 
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Amoradala said:
Eels are scavengers aren’t they ? So they don’t chase or strike at live prey.
Click to expand...
No, not the case they are quite predatory.

There is some evidence that there are two sub species or strains of anguilla anguilla. One has a broad flat head and predominately feeds on fish, live or dead and the other has a far narrower head and tends to feed on crustacea and insects, but will take bites out of anything.

To fish for really big (UK) eels, live-bait fished high in the water at dusk or at night is quite effective.
 
Amoradala said:
So to defraud insurance companies you just need to lie (as outlandishly as you please), without inconsistencies over time and the retelling ?
Click to expand...

For small claims, basically, yes. It isn't quite that simple, but you're not far off.
 
Mikefule said:
It is true that the following story was told to me as if it were true. I do not believe it is literally true.

It happened in the course of my work as a fraud investigator for an insurance company a few years ago. I cannot give details that might allow the individual customer to be identified. I can only write the story "as told" for its amusement value.

The customer told me that he was sitting in a rowing boat on Windermere. He was fishing, and he also had his laptop out because he was working on a novel.

He caught a fish. As he was landing it into the boat using his rod and line, a giant eel, said to be 2–3 metres long, leaped from the water, trying to catch the fish that was on the line.

The giant eel landed in the rowing boat.

The fisherman, drew his knife and stabbed the eel. In the struggle, the fisherman's expensive Rolex watch came off and went over the side. Also, the laptop went over the side. The claim was for the watch and the laptop, with a combined value of a few thousand Pounds.

He did not explain what happened to the giant eel, or the knife, or why his fishing tackle did not go over the side.

I presented this story to the fraud manager, explaining that as a former scuba diver with some interest in fish, I could tell him that:
  1. Freshwater eels in this country seldom reach 1 metre in length, and never more than 1.5 metres.
  2. Eels are bottom-dwelling fish, and do not leap out of the water.
  3. The size and behaviour of the eel described by the customer were fundamentally implausible.
I recommended that we should take a firm stand from the start and simply decline the claim which was obviously fanciful.

The boss was more cautious and instructed me to arrange for the customer to be interviewed. The usual interview process, carried out by an outside agency, relied on identifying inconsistencies in the story, challenging the customer to explain the inconsistencies, and giving the customer an opportunity to choose not to proceed with the claim.

The customer stuck to his story. The interviewer identified no new inconsistencies other than the ones we had known about on day 1. As we had not rejected the claim on day 1, we were now unable to reject it on the basis of the same information. As we had no new information, we had to pay the claim.

I spoke to that customer more than once and I still think he was doing it as a bet. I know that he was in the legal profession, and I suspect that there was some sort of challenge to see who could get the daftest story past the insurance and beat the system.

However, the story piqued my interest and I did some reading up and that was the first time that I became aware of the earlier stories about a "Windermere monster" or Bownessie.
Click to expand...
Eels do move about at the surface and sometimes grab prey there.
 
lordmongrove said:
Eels do move about at the surface and sometimes grab prey there.
Click to expand...
True, but 1m of eel is an absolute monster (sorry) in the UK. I've had a few up to about 4.5lb and they are not to be taken lightly. A 1.5m anguilla anguilla would be quite something...
 
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