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Accidents & Death

Body Parts and Vampire Bites: There’s Insurance for That?

IStock Photo 3372946 © MBPHOTO

If you own your own home, chances are you have homeowner’s insurance. In the US, 1 in 1.05 (95%) homeowners do. And if you’re lucky you are among the 1 in 1.18 (85%) Americans who have health insurance. But what if you possess something of great worth that’s far smaller than a house? What if your concern for your body is less about overall health and more about one particular part? If so, you might consider purchasing a more unusual form of insurance.

Celebrity body part insurance has been around at least since World War II when Betty Grable became famous for the million-dollar policy on her gams. Seven decades later, Heidi Klum covered hers for more than $1 million each. In 2007, Lloyd’s of London insured the smile of actress America Ferrara, star of the TV show “Ugly Betty,” for $10 million. Riverdance star Michael Flatley insured his feet for £25 million, and soccer icon David Beckham insured his whole body for £100 million. SpaceShipOne, the first privately owned ship to make it to outer space, was insured for half that amount.

And it’s not just celebrities who feel they have an appendage worth protecting. In 2009, Gennaro Pellicia, British coffee taster for Costa Coffee, had his tongue insured for $13.95 million, far outdoing Gene Simmons of Kiss, who had insured his famously long tongue for more than $1 million.

But unusual insurance is not limited to body parts—in fact, if you find yourself fretting about contracting rabies or waking up with strange marks on your neck, rest assured you can be covered. Lloyd’s has sold policies against vampire bites and werewolf attacks. They’ve even sold more than 40,000 policies against a bona fide (verifiable by video and lie detector test) alien abduction.

Goodfellow Rebecca Ingrams Parson (GRIP), also a British firm, offers slightly more specialized policies “against being injured by a ghost, eaten by an alien, or hit by an asteroid.” GRIP has also sold 4,500 “John Wayne Bobbitt” policies, against spousal dismemberment, and 4,000 “immaculate-conception” policies—against pregnancies which are not the result of normal sexual relations between humans, but involve a woman becoming pregnant by a divine act. (Perhaps that isn’t so crazy—scientists have confirmed at least two virgin births in recent years. Both were baby sharks, though.)

Of course, considering that the vast majority of insurance policies never pay out; no firm would offer a policy they expect will bankrupt them. So the most important thing a policyholder can purchase is comfort. It’s hard to fault anyone for wanting that.

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Sources

 

Betty Grable’s legs [Internet]. Virgin Media. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://www.virginmedia.com/money/features/celebrity-body-parts-insurance.php?ssid=7

Insurance of the rich and famous - Those gams [Internet]. Microsoft. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://money.ca.msn.com/investing/gallery.aspx?cp-documentid=21787511&page=4

Costa Coffee taster: Ten of the weirdest insurance policies [Internet]. Telegraph Media Group. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/insurance/specialrisks/4962817/Costa-Coffee-taster-Ten-of-the-weirdest-insurance-policies.html

Beckham insures himself for £100m [Internet]. Times Newspapers Ltd. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/football/article756905.ece

A cover for all reasons [Internet]. HT Media. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://www.livemint.com/articles/2008/09/07231735/A-cover-for-all-reasons.html

Shark "Virgin Birth" Confirmed [Internet]. National Geographic Society. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2008/10/081010-shark-virgin-birth-2.html

Coffee taster's tongue worth £10m [Internet]. BBC News. [accessed October 19, 2009]. Available from: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7932090.stm

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Comments (1)

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trevman31
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I am curious if Lloyds sells most of these in Forks, Washington or Volterra, Italy?

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has sold policies against vampire bites and werewolf attacks. They’ve even sold more than 40,000 policies against a bona fide (verifiable by video and lie detector test) alien abduction.

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