A friend and I had a yard sale. We were set up inside my friends garage which happened to be located on an alleyway. After several hours and massive crowds, we had settled into comfortable lawn chairs at the back of the garage. Suddenly, a very loud car rolled up and 6 people poured out. One person was a very old woman. The entire family scattered all over the garage but it was the old woman who held our attention. Suddenly, she fell! Just fell. My friend and I in a state of shock, stood up but we did not move. There was something that was off. The family rushed to the old woman’s side and helped her back to the car. And then, they were off. My friend and I looked at each other and both said “That was weird” at the same time! The next Wednesday both my friend and I got phone calls from an insurance investigator. After answering many questions about our garage sale, we were told that the woman was trying to collect insurance from her fall for over $100,000!! We were in shock … again. After a few months, the insurance investigator called again to tell us that the case was now closed and the old woman wasn’t really that old. She and her “family” were making their way across the state, stopping at garage sales and falling! They would make a claim against the people putting on the yard sale. Sometimes they actually collected money. This time they did not.They were all arrested for insurance fraud. But, my friend and I learned a valuable lesson. Take extra care to set up your garage sale so that there are absolutely no chances for falls or other safety issues!
Safety for Yard Sales
