8/7/2019 premium excesses

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PREMIUM EXCESSES

Policies that your Insurance Agent never proposed to you.

Time and again, Celebrities are espied with InsuranceUnderwriters on Page No.3 for their larger-than-lifeInsurance Contracts. Here are some of the popularlegends and bizarre extensions of the business practicethat dates back to ancient times.

Origin of celebrity Insurance traces back to 1920swhen silent movie star Ben Turpin, famed for hiscrossed eyes, took out a $20,000 policy to protecthim against their uncrossing and becoming normal.

British food Critic Egon Ronay by no means wantsto be a critic without taste. So he took out a policycovering his taste buds for the princely sum of250,000 at Lloyd's. Celebrity Chef Anthony WarrelThompson has his sense of taste and fingers insuredfor 500,000 each.

Merv Hughes, the Australian cricketer rememberedfor his seamers and extravagant moustache, took outa 200,000 policy to protect his moustache.

Comic Actor Ken Dodd knows his water well. He isaware of the high-risk of tragedy and low-scale oftolerance associated with his profession. Maybe thatis the reason why he insured his teeth for awhooping sum of 4 million.

1940s Comedian Jimmy Durante protected histrademark nose, which he called schnozzola for$50,000.

Coming to leg-endary Insurance, tinsel-goddess of30s and 40s Betty Grable insured her dynamite legswith Lloyds for a sum of $1 million, while hercontemporary dancer-star Fred Astaire too find itvital. E ntertainment TonightAnchor Mary Hart has her

legs insured for $1 million dollars, as does actressAngie Everhart. Jamie Lee Curtis insured hers for $1million while doing advertisements for a stockingcompany. Actresses Angie Dickenson and PorshceLynn are the other million-dollar legs. Lord of theDance, Michael Flatley insured his legs for anastounding 25 million. Even the non-famous canenjoy this type of protection. When Miami residentDomitila Hunnicutt won a Most Valuable Legscontest sponsored by Jergens, the company insuredher legs for $2 million for one year, truthful to thetitle literally.

One of the most unusual chronicles is aboutHollywood actress Bette Davis who took out

$28,000 policy against weight gain. One wonder thatthe warranty list of forbidden premises decreed byher Insurer would be the Encyclopedia of fast-foodchains.

A british mum, Angela Mount sure got a good nosefor things, which made her Employer Supermarketchain Somerfield insure her nose and taste buds for10 million. Angela buys the wine for Somerfields600 stores and her taste skills accounts for 15%growth in its wine sales, which now constitutes onetenth of the chains turnover. That deciphers thispay through the nose in the business sense. (Thereis a warranty that the Insured is not allowed to

smoke or to do any extreme sports like bungeejumping or womens rugby that could damage hernose or tongue.)

On the high note, music-stars also joined the horde.Bruce Springsteen has a policy on his voice forsomewhere in the $6 million range, Rod Stewart and

Marlene Dietrich follow suit. Musician Liberace,French pianist Richard Clayderman and RollingStones guitarist Keith Richards insured their hands.

Sportsmen dont want to be behind the race. Specialdisability insurance seems to be their favorite, like theSt. Louis Cardinals did with a $12 million disabilitypolicy on now retired Mark McGwire. The SanFrancisco Giants insured only one player - BarryBonds. That policy wasn't renewed in 2001, however,because at that time Bonds was in the last year of hiscontract, and the deductible was more than thepremium. Sometimes, players take on the insuranceburden themselves. Outfielder Juan Gonzalez

purchased a $50 million personal disability policy thatwas transferable to whichever team signed him inorder to reassure teams concerned about his historyof back trouble. Now the highest insurance price tagever heard is from David Beckham whose legspurportedly reported to be valued at 40 million.(Recent rumours suggest a feasibility for FidelityGuarantee Insurance to protect the interests of PoshSpice)

Harvey Lowe, winner of the first World Yo-YoContest in 1934, had his hands insured by theCheerie Yo-Yo Company for $150,000.

Some Sporting heroes are so successful and rich thatthey are beyond insurance. Golfer Tiger Woods, forexample, makes so much money that to insurehimself against injury would cost him $10 million to$20 million a year, more than what he made in 2002from golf. Most of his money, more than $69 milliona year, comes from endorsements.

How do People who offer huge prizes protectthemselves? They insure. Manufacturer of Cutty SarkWhisky offered a $1million prize to anyone whocaptured the Loch Ness monster. They then sensiblytook out a policy at Lloyd's covering themselves incase somebody actually did capture the mythicalcreature.

PS : There are other stories related to some uniquebody parts and involving highly famous personalitieslike Dolly Parton (E ntertainment Tonight refutes this),Jennifer Lopez (which she dismisses) and otherlegendary sirens which I dont want to uncoverhere.

Mohammed Riyaz

(2003)