Insurance policies aren’t something we usually think of as interesting. What’s interesting about deductibles, monthly premiums, and pages of miniscule fine print? Well for most of us, not all that much. But that doesn’t mean that all insurance policies are boring. Here are 6 unusual insurance policies that you have to see to believe.
Holly Madison’s Breasts For $1,000,000
Holly Madison, the reality star of the Girls Next Door and one of Hugh Heffner’s former girlfriends, had her breasts insured for a cool one million dollars. According to Madison, she took out the bosomy insurance policy to protect her income in case something happened to her “assets”. And she means it literally – on her Las Vegas production, Peepshow, Madison often appears topless and indeed, would suffer a significant loss of income if something unfortunate were to happen to her most precious assets. This fact isn’t lost on Madison, who emphasizes that “they’re my primary money makers right now.”
Ben Turpin’s Eyes For $25,000
Ben Turpin was a cross-eyed comedian and actor who worked during the silent film era. He is believed to be the first celebrity to take out insurance on one of his body parts. Because Ben Turpin was so well known for his cross-eyed look, he took out an insurance policy for $25,000 (a hefty sum at the time) which would be paid if his eyes ever became uncrossed.
David Beckham’s Legs and Looks For £100,000,000 (approximately $195,000,000)
In 2006, soccer legend David Beckham’s legs were insured for 100 million pounds – the highest insurance policy on a sports figure’s body part in history. The policy was taken out by several companies that had an interest in not only Beckham’s ability to play soccer, but his famous good looks as well. The policy covered Beckham’s legs, as well as his feet, his toes, and also his looks – which has netted him 100s of millions in endorsement deals over his career.
Daniel Craig’s Body For £5,000,000
Actor Daniel Craig had a 5 million pound insurance policy on his body during the filming of the 2006 James Bond movie, Casino Royale. Craig took out the policy because he insisted on doing his own stunt work. Was 007’s body worth £5,000,000 in Casino Royale? According to the ladies who saw the beach scene, it certainly was.
Troy Polamalu’s Hair For $1,000,000
Troy Polamalu is known as a great defensive football player, having won the 2010 NFL Defensive Player of the Year Award. But perhaps what he is most recognized for is his luxurious head of hair. The Samoan safety’s curly locks flow out of his helmet to his shoulders, making him a distinctive presence on the gridiron. In an interview, in 2010, Polamu stated that he hadn’t cut his hair for approximately 8 years.
His flowing locks also helped him lock up a lucrative endorsement contract with the shampoo company Head & Shoulders, for whom he starred in 5 commercials. To protect their investment, Proctor & Gamble – the company behind Head & Shoulders – took out a million dollar insurance policy on Polamalu’s hair. The policy was to payout if Polamulu sustained a loss to 60% or more of his hair due to accident, and also restricts the NFL safety from activities that could endanger his hair, such as fire breathing or climbing Mount Everest.
Warren Buffet For The World’s First Billion Dollar Lottery
Have you ever wondered how companies can afford to give away such lavish prizes in lotteries and contests? One of the ways they do so is have an insurance company underwrite the contest. Instead of raising the money for the prize themselves, they pay a premium to an insurance company who takes on the risk. The premium paid by the contest-holder is based on the size of the prize(s), and the odds of any contestant winning.
Enter Grab.com, which in the year 2000 at the height of the .com boom, offered a billion dollar lottery prize in order to gain e-mail subscribers. Of course, the entrepreneurs behind Grab.com struggled at first to find an insurance company willing to underwrite the potential billion dollar payout.
Enter Warren Buffet, the world’s foremost investor, and also the world’s 3rd richest man. Buffet was the only investor willing to take on the risk of a potential billion dollar payout. In subsequent years, Buffet has bragged that the move was easy cash. And why not? Turns out the odds of winning the billion dollar lottery were 1 in 2,404,808,340.