Puppet Collector's Insurance Claim Denied After Adjuster Rules That 400 Puppets 'Constitute a Haunting, Not a Collection'

An insurance claim filed by puppet collector Millicent Weave, 71, for water damage to her collection of 412 puppets has been denied after the claims adjuster's report classified the collection not as personal property but as 'an environmental hazard consistent with a haunting.' The adjuster, Greg Normal of Heartland Insurance, visited Weave's home in March to assess damage from a burst pipe that had affected a storage room containing approximately 200 marionettes, 100 hand puppets, 60 ventriloquist dummies, and 52 miscellaneous figures that Weave categorized as 'art dolls' and Normal categorized as 'deeply troubling.' 'I entered the home and was immediately surrounded,' Normal wrote in his report. 'The foyer contains approximately 30 marionettes suspended from the ceiling at various heights. The living room has ventriloquist dummies on every available surface. The hallway is lined with hand puppets mounted on the walls. All of them are facing the front door. I do not believe this is a collection. I believe this is a situation.' Weave disputed the characterization. 'They face the door because the light is best there,' she said. 'It's an aesthetic choice. Greg acted as though my puppets were watching him. They are puppets. They do not watch. They gaze. There is a difference.' Normal's report concludes that 'the density of puppet occupation exceeds what this adjuster considers reasonable for a residential dwelling' and recommends that the claim be denied on grounds that the puppets constitute 'a pre-existing condition of the home's atmosphere.' Weave has appealed the decision. Her attorney, who visited the home for a consultation, reportedly asked to conduct all future meetings at his office. 'He said the lighting in the hallway was "aggressive,"' Weave said. 'I told him it's because the marionettes diffuse the overhead fixture. He did not find this comforting.'