Couple get $31,000 compensation after 8 water buffaloes fell into their new swimming pool, report sa

• An English couple's garden and swimming pool were damaged by 18 escaped water buffaloes.
• Authorities thought it was a prank call when they phoned them about the buffaloes in their pool.
• They fought an insurance company for nearly a year to get $31,118 worth of damages repaid.

An English couple has won compensation after a 10-month fight with an insurance company after a herd of water buffaloes trampled through their garden and plunged into their swimming pool.

Andy and Lynette Smith, from Essex, southeast England, told The Guardian that the repair bill reached £25,000 ($31,118). 

The water buffaloes that originate from Asia can weigh over 1,300 pounds. The herd escaped from a nearby rare breed farm last summer after an electric fence failed, The Guardian reported.

The herd roamed their garden, and eight buffaloes fell into the couple's new £70,000 ($87,132) pool, described as a "retirement luxury."

Andy Smith told The Guardian that the authorities did not believe them when they first called to alert the incident. 

"When my wife went to make the morning tea, she glanced out of the kitchen window and saw eight buffaloes in the pool," he said, adding. "She called 999 and was told the fire brigade doesn't accept hoax calls."

The buffaloes were retrieved by the farmer unscathed.

"Buffaloes are top-heavy, and the porcelain tiles round the pool were slippery, so they lost their grip, and once they were in they couldn't get out again," Smith told The Guardian.

"The previous afternoon, we had hosted a pool party for our young grandchildren and their friends. If the invasion had happened hours earlier, it could have been very serious," said Smith.

The couple had to battle with the insurance company of the rare breed farm for nearly a year before they agreed to compensate the retirees, The Guardian reported.

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