Celebrities And Body Part Insurance

Adnan Sami, the world’s fastest keyboard player insured his fingers a couple of years back. Wondering, what made him do this? Well, if you look at things from Adnan Sami’s perspective, you will realise that his fingers are his primary source of income. What would happen if one fine day he woke up and was unable to play his piano? Well, that’s what Adnan Sami probably thought before choosing to insure his fingers!

Today there is insurance for life, health, auto, assets, pretty much everything, including body parts. Though body part insurance is not very popular with the middle-class people, it’s quite popular with celebrities and sportsmen. In fact many Indian celebrities and sportsmen have already opted to copyright or insure parts of their bodies. Here are some of them.

Lata Mangeshkar – One of the most popular and versatile singers in India, Lata Mangeshkar has insured her voice.

John Abraham – It turns out, the John Abraham has Insured his derriere for quite a hefty amount.

Priyanka Chopra – This glamourous actress has a copyright on her pout.

Vijender Singh – This Olympic champion boxer has insured his hands.

Amitabh Bachchan – One of the biggest celebrities in Bollywood, Amitabh is known for his baritone voice, which is copyrighted.

Sania Mirza – No points for guessing that this ace tennis player has her hands insured.

Compared to India, the list of Hollywood celebrities who have insured various body parts is quite long. A few prominent ones include David Beckham who has insured his legs, Julia Robert, her smile, Mariah Carey is another one who has insured her lovely legs, Jennifer Lopez her derriere, Daniel Craig who highly values his entire body has had it insured, Keith Richard’s hands have been insured and the list goes on.

Most celebrities opt for body part insurance in order to secure their primary source of income which kind of makes sense. So, should everyone opt for body part insurance? Before getting to that, let’s find out what body part insurance is all about.

What is body part insurance policy?

Body part insurance provides financial cover against risks or serious injury to the insured part. If the insured body part gets damaged, resulting in a loss of earnings, the insurer is protected by the insurance policy. This policy also covers charges for any kind of medical treatment.

Some features of the body part insurance policy include:

• It is a completely customizable policy, depending upon the individual’s requirements and will cover every body part right from your nails to hair and even your moustache.
• There is no limit defined for this type of insurance; it can be taken for any value. Understandably, celebrity body parts are insured for huge amounts.
• This is a yearly insurance policy with a renewal option.
• The premium amounts are also fairly high.
• It covers both temporary as well as permanent disability of the insured body part.
• The conditions for claims are slightly stringent  compared to other policies.

Factors considered by banks

The banks or general insurance companies will consider various factors while providing this kind of an insurance. Some of the prominent factors considered by banks are:

• Health of person, lifestyle, and popularity of the applicant.
• Type and severity of risks involved for the insured body part.
• Since the premium charges can be extremely high, the applicant’s income is a major concern for most banks.
• The renewal policy and amount will differ from one individual to another and also on the body part which is insured.

Who offers this insurance?

This type of insurance is offered as a premium service bygeneral insurance companies. ICICI Lombard, United India Insurance, Bajaj Allianz, and New India Insurance Company are some of the popular insurance companies which offer this service and even then, only for a niche clientele.

Popularity of body part insurance

Body part insurance in India is mainly popular with celebrities and sportspersons. It’s not popular with the middle-class or the general public as it involves a huge amount of money.

Additional reading: 5 Nagging Insurance Queries Answered

So, leave body part insurance policy to our celebrities and sportsmen, and instead look at other types of insurance that might fit better with your lifestyle.