A recurring dispute in our claims department concerns the cushion. It lies on the floor, it appears in photographs, and it is occasionally blamed.<\/p>\n
Some policyholders claim that a cushion beneath a falling item should prevent a loss. Our panel observed that this is true, but only if the cushion is placed there before the fall rather than after.<\/p>\n
Others claim that cushions are a trap, placed deliberately by the cat so that she can say the fall was gentle. We have no evidence for this, though it is exactly what a clever cat would do.<\/p>\n
A third view holds that the cushion saw everything. We attempted to interview a cushion. It did not respond, which the panel regards as suspicious.<\/p>\n
The panel has concluded that a cushion is neither a landing, a trap, nor a witness, but a cushion. We recommend that cats be allowed to sit on them as a matter of course.<\/p>\n
The panel received eleven written submissions on the subject. Nine argued that the cushion was a soft landing. One argued that it was a trap. One was a drawing of a cushion with a small face, which the panel found moving but unhelpful.<\/p>\n
Policyholders are advised not to rely on cushions as a protective measure. Instead, they should keep fragile objects away from edges and cats away from objects. If both are impossible, a cushion is a pleasant thing to have nearby, and it makes the aftermath more comfortable for everyone.<\/p>\n
One panel member, a brisk grey cat named Ledger, filed a dissent. It read, in full, “It is a cushion. I am sitting on it.” The panel noted her view and asked her to move.<\/p>\n
The cushion has since been returned to the sofa, where it remains under review.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Do cushions count as a soft landing, a trap or a witness? The Bureau convenes a panel.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":20,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[6,13,9],"class_list":["post-19","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-assessor-notes","tag-claims","tag-cushions","tag-liability"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/20"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dev02site-x3ohyw.wpurr.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}