Are you into the unusual? Whether it’s sports, food, travel, or a rare hobby, likely there’s an insurance policy with coverage for it. We’ll look at traits, activities, and events that have been covered by insurance and discuss the coverage options you can find for anything you might want to do.
You are probably familiar with homeowners insurance, life insurance, and health insurance. But did you know that an insurance policy can be written for almost anything? We’ll take a look at some of the weird insurance policies people have purchased.
For example, one familiar insurance option that wasn’t around just 20 years ago is smartphone insurance. Almost everyone that uses a smartphone will opt for insurance to cover loss or damage to these expensive but necessary devices.
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Insurance Can Protect Any Asset
Insurance can protect you and your assets against financial loss. In addition, insurance is protection against the eventuality of a loss. While most insurers specialize in property, business, automobile, or health insurance, some specialize in niche markets.
For unusual insurance policies, the well-known company Lloyd’s of London is a prominent niche insurer known for unique and outrageous policies. For decades, Lloyd’s has worked with athletes, celebrities, inventors, and entertainers to insure body parts, space satellites, and even their clients’ smiles.
Insuring Body Parts Beyond Health Insurance
You can buy insurance on anything valuable. For example, in 2006, the soccer star David Beckham insured his legs and feet for $195 million. Cristiano Ronaldo later followed suit, insuring his legs for about $144 million.
While Lloyd’s has insured athletes’ legs and feet, it has also insured facial hair. In 1992, a famous Santa Claus insured his white beard. Merv Hughes, an Australian cricket player, insured his mustache for $360,000.
Insuring a Famous Trait
Many actors, athletes, and entertainers get big bucks to do what they do. So naturally, they may decide to insure the assets that made them rich and famous.
For example, rocker Bruce Springsteen has insured his voice for $6 million. Supermodel Heidi Klum’s legs are insured with more than a $2.2 million policy. Former NFL player Troy Polamalu had his hair insured for over $1 million when he had an endorsement deal with Head and Shoulders’ shampoo brand.
Many professional athletes have multi-million dollar policies against their ability to play. These are a type of long-term disability policies against the eventuality of being injured or sidelined.
Other interesting celebrity insurance policies include:
- $27 million for J. Lo’s bottom
- $10 million for America Ferrera’s teeth
- $6 million for Rod Stewart’s voice
- $1.6 million for Keith Richard’s middle finger
- $600,000 for Dolly Parton’s chest
- $7 million for Tom Jones’ chest hair
Unexpected Insurance Questions
Many people may be familiar with common insurance knowledge. However, policies and coverages have many layers to them. Some questions aren’t answered under the basic information provided by insurance companies.
Can you insure multiple births?
Did you know you could buy insurance against infertility? Or for multiple births? You can add a multiple or twin insurance policy to some medical insurance to help cover the expense of providing for multiple births.
You can also add an option to help cover infertility treatments if you need to use these measures to have a family.
What kind of auto insurance covers food trucks?
If you run a food truck, you’ll be glad to know about policies specific to this business. This policy protects against liabilities like personal injury, food-borne illness, or other damages.
Food truck insurance also protects against fire and other liabilities.
Are bed bugs covered by renters insurance?
Renters and homeowners insurance policies are pretty comprehensive, but general policies usually don’t cover pests. So they certainly don’t protect you against bed bugs.
Bed bugs almost always enter a home from outside, and treating your home and replacing your bedding can be expensive. Unfortunately, most homeowners’ policies do not cover a bed bug infestation.
For a loss to be covered by your homeowners’ policy, the damage must result from sudden and accidental incidents like fire, lightning, theft, or specific instances of water damage.
Bed bugs, termites, and other pests are excluded from homeowners insurance policies because they are seen as being preventable. In addition, bed bug infestations are considered a home maintenance issue.
What does travel insurance cover?
When planning a business trip or vacation, it’s essential to look at precisely what your travel insurance does and does not cover. A variety of plans are available.
You are probably familiar with travel insurance. This policy is usually purchased to cover trip interruption or cancellation, lost baggage, accidents, and medical expenses. In addition, it often covers lost passports, rebooking canceled flights, and provides 24/7 emergency assistance.
Some travel policies cover personal property damage, rental cars, and even paying a ransom in case of kidnapping. You can also buy insurance specifically to cover ransom.
Large multi-national corporations are becoming more interested in buying insurance against kidnapping. Kidnapping insurance policies can be vital for global business succession planning.
What is wedding insurance?
Wedding insurance protects against financial losses if you need to cancel due to a natural disaster or personal tragedy — like a death in the family. It can also provide liability protection if your wedding destination is outside.
This policy protects against severe weather, injuries, or mishaps; and alcohol liability if the caterer doesn’t already have it. You can even add a rider to protect your honeymoon.
Other Weird Insurance Policies
The band KISS was known for its costumes and makeup. The frontman, Gene Simmons, was known for flashing his long tongue.
You may not be surprised to know that his tongue is insured for $1 million. Not to be outdone, pop star Miley Cyrus also had her tongue insured for $1 million.
A Flaw Insured as a Virtue
In the 1920s, a famous comedian in silent films bought a $25,000 policy, equivalent to $333,817 today, to payout if his crossed eyes ever got uncrossed.
Jimmy Durante was a famous comedian and entertainer in the early days of TV. He was well known for his large nose and reportedly loved his nose so much that he made the word “Schnozzola” his middle name. He insured his nose for what today would equal $1,884,365.
Sputnik Insurance
In 1957, the Russians launched the Sputnik satellite. The launch caused a panic, and some people were so frightened of an impending disaster that they bought a policy from Lloyd’s to protect them from accidental death by falling Sputniks.
Alien Abduction Insurance
You might be surprised to learn that if you’re concerned about being abducted by aliens, you can buy insurance for that.
While some of these plans are serious, many are offered more as gag gifts. For example, an insurer in the U.K. has sold more than 30,000 policies. Each policy can cost up to $150 per month.
Spaceship Insurance
Did you know that one in every 20 launches is expected to fail? Unfortunately, that is an expected risk in the space business. That explains why companies like Space X, Virgin Galactic, and Blue Origin choose to pay huge premiums. These insurance policies help protect their inventions from catastrophic damage.
It is possible to insure almost anything if you have the money. While it may be unusual to insure your nose, legs or teeth, or even your voice, it is possible. The insurance industry is ever-evolving.
It is now common to insure significant events like entertainment industry awards shows, the Super Bowl, and the World Cup. However, events like these require very specialized insurance policies to cover a range of possible events.
Unexpected Insurance Policies
While you may never decide to purchase so many unique or unexpected insurance policies, they are always available should the need ever arise. Many things you never imagined to be insurable are actually covered under a wide variety of policies.
From body parts to alien abductions, there’s no shortage of coverage options to meet almost anyone’s needs.
Alexandra Arcand writes and researches for the insurance comparison site, USInsuranceAgents.com. She is an expert in different types of insurance policy and coverage options and enjoys sharing her knowledge with others.
