Most of us pay our insurance premiums without thinking much of it. House, check. Car, check. But have you ever considered insuring your hands? Or, taking out a policy just in case an apocalypse occurs?
For Your Next Night of Trivia Games
How about a list of some of the craziest insurance policies recorded?
In the 1930’s, Bette Davis insured her waistline for $28,000 just in case, you know, she ate too many cookies one day. This phenomenon didn’t stop in the 30’s though. Heidi Klum buffered herself against any calamity (like a skateboarding accident) by insuring her legs for $1.6 million, while Mariah Carey took out a $1 billion policy on hers.
It’s not only famous women who are known for insuring individual body parts, though. David Beckham insured his legs for $100 million.
Daniel Craig, a.k.a. “James Bond,” didn’t take any chances though… He was insured for $9.5 million.
Costa Coffee’s head taster Gennaro Pelliccia insured his taste buds for $13 million. Egon Ronay, Britain’s “king of good food” and the well known Hungarian-born food critic, must have had less confidence in his tasting abilities since he insured his taste buds for only $393,000.
Now a Nod to Professional Sports
While athletes and teams commonly carry insurance of various kinds to protect themselves against loss and injury, in 2006, some British insurance companies offered sports fan insurance to protect fans against excessive despondency should England fair badly during the World Cup.
Knowing that an athlete’s image is more about just the game, Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburg Steelers took out a $1 million policy for his hair.
More concerned about a once-in-history event like an apocalypse, rather than a house flood? Three sisters in Essex were. They paid 100 pounds annually for six years to take out a policy designed to give them $1 million pounds to help fund the raising of Christ in case one of them became pregnant from Jesus Christ via immaculate conception. (The policy was withdrawn by Lloyds in 2006.)
Ann Anderson of Anderson Insurance Agency considers a car insurance policy a basic necessity, along with policies for any other vehicles one owns. But in the 1940’s, when Lloyd’s of London was asked to insure one of the early vehicles on the road, no one had ever insured a car before and no guidelines for a policy existed. The vehicle was insured as a “land-sailing ship.”
A Bit Closer to Home
Want to know some trivia that falls a bit closer to home for most people? 1 in 5 weddings now involves some kind of cancellation insurance.
Although Anderson would agree that insurance is definitely a worthwhile expenditure, it can be expensive. Want some perspective on that monthly bill? In 2003, the U.S. and Canada suffered a massive power outage, costing insurance companies in both countries around $3 billion.
Do your car insurance premiums seem high? Rowan Atkinson’s McClaren F1 sports car may be the largest insurance claim ever made in Britain. When he crashed it, his insurance company paid him $1,490,560.
Have you ever considered insuring your pet? While Anderson has written pet insurance policies, the scientist-created breed the “Ashera” cat has been insured for $22,000. We’re pretty sure that there aren’t many Frisco furry friends worth quite that much on paper.
Anderson encourages art collectors to insure valuable works of art. Think your art is worth quite a bit? The Mona Lisa by Leonardo Da Vinci has the highest known insurance valuation for a painting at $100 million.
Meanwhile, back in the real world…
It’s fun to hear about outrageous insurance policies… But whether or not you have very specific, unique, and rare insurance needs, or you simply want to protect your home and family from a more common catastrophe, expertise to guide you is close to home for the Frisco, McKinney, Prosper, and Plano areas at Ann Anderson’s Farmers Insurance.