Victorians were just as keen as modern day Scots to make cash from mishaps

OFTEN described as one of the banes of modern life, compensation culture it seems is no recent phenomenon.

Archives unearthed by insurance firm Aviva have revealed that Scots in Victorian times were actually just as keen to make some cash from their mishaps as people are today.

The historic claims, which date back as far as 1860, range from a plumber from Moffat who was handed 18 after suffering a curling injury in 1907 - to a merchant who won 66 in compensation when he was knocked down by a speeding sledge.

A cattle dealer, from Paisley, sustained a nasty eye injury when removing a string from a cow's horn in 1905, but received 500 - equivalent to about 45,000 in today's currency - for his pains.

But perhaps the most bizarre of all was the 42 awarded in 1895 to a man who hurt himself when leaping out of bed to catch his wife, who had fainted.

Anna Stone, archivist at Aviva, uncovered the documents while preparing for an exhibition at the company's general insurance headquarters in Norwich.

"I knew these documents existed, but I hadn't looked at them before," said Ms Stone. "What is most interesting is that they give us a real insight into people's lives in the Victorian age.

"There wasn't any kind of NHS then, or sick pay if someone had to take time off work, so people insured themselves against injury."

While a comedy-style fall after slipping on fruit was still a regular occurrence in Victorian times, it was orange peel and not the more modern banana skin which caused the accidents. The archives show that another cattle dealer, this time from Auchtralure near Stranraer, slipped on orange peel and was paid 75 in 1878.

"When I saw the first orange peel claim, I assumed it was a one-off, but then I found more and more.

It seemed it was a very common way to sustain an injury," added Ms Stone.

In Scotland, more claims during the Victorian era were due to freezing weather conditions than elsewhere in the UK, with sledging incidents and claims from people who had fallen on the ice appearing frequently.

"Obviously insurance claims change as lifestyles change, but some incidents appear to be as common back then as they are today," said Rob Townend, director of property claims at Aviva."Even in prim and proper Victorian times, people were still tripping up on kerbs, falling on ice and slipping on cobbled streets, albeit back then discarded orange peel appeared to be the major culprit."

Aviva, created by a merger of a merger of Norwich Union and CGU in 2000, owns a number of historical insurance companies with archives dating back to the early days of insurance.

One historical advert, for the Ocean Accident and Guarantee Corporation, includes a poem to warn potential customers of an alarming list of potential day-to-day dangers.

The poem begins: "Insure before you chop a log, Or use a lamp, Or keep a dog" the ditty ends: "Or sink in earth, Or mount the skies, Insure at once if you are wise."