Would you insure your unborn child, an idea or even your identity? We take a look at some of the more unusual insurance policies available to you.
No doubt you have car insurance, home insurance and maybe even pet insurance but what lengths would you go to in order to protect yourself against unexpected events?
No doubt you’ve heard about celebrities insuring their body parts, Mariah Carey reportedly insured her legs to the tune of $1billion and Bruce Springsteen’s voice was insured for £3.5million.
But there are more day to day, yet still unusual, ways to protect your assets and more.
According to Lloyd’s market, individuals and even businesses can insure almost anything providing a risk can be calculated, leaving the door open for some unconventional policies. Here are a few of the more unusual polices underwritten by Lloyd’s.
Twin insurance
Otherwise known as multiple birth insurance, this type of policy exists to financially compensate parents if they find out they’re having more than one baby. The policy has to be taken out before the first scan, when it’s first possible to detect multiple births and must be backed up by a doctor’s note before a policy can be purchased. So it cannot be taken out retrospectively, once you know you’re expecting more than one baby. This type of policy is more common among those with a history of multiple births in the family.
Key person cover
This is generally an insurance policy taken out by a business to protect it financially if an employee vital to the profitability dies or is absent through ill health for a long period. The policy would help support a company, or could be used to fund a temporary replacement to maintain the company's economic performance.
GAP insurance
If you’ve ever purchased a new car you’ll know the value of the vehicle can depreciate instantly. So, if you have an accident and your motor is written off in the first six months, for example, there is likely to be a shortfall between the insurers offer, based on the market value of the vehicle, and the amount paid originally or any outstanding loan.
GAP insurance exists to protect the owner of a new motor against any financial loss if they have a mishap, usually from when the vehicle is new to 7 years old. However it can only be bought within the first few months after buying the car, in most cases.
Identity theft
Although identity theft is fairly common and there are measures employed by banks and business to protect customers and to compensate them, consumers can also protect their identity with an insurance policy designed to help people save time and money if they find they’ve become a victim of ID theft.
Intellectual property
It might be more common to copyright or patent a good idea but insurers can now offer you a policy to protect your ideas and the value of any existing patents, according to Lloyd’s, it is one of the first to rise to the challenge of providing coverage for something that doesn’t necessarily exist in a physical form.
Lottery
According to Lloyd’s, employers can buy insurance to compensate them if two or more of their staff win the UK national lottery and do not return to work. Lottery syndicate members must win more than £100,000 each and resign within 14 days of their win. The policy provides between £25,000 and £500,000 to cover the costs of employing temporary staff or recruiting new employees.
As well as the above, Lloyd’s has underwritten some even more bizarre polices, from alien abduction insurance to satellite insurance, which protects individuals against death or injury caused by a piece of disintegrating satellite falling from the sky.
If you’ve heard of any unusual insurance policies or would consider taking out any of the above policies get in touch via Twitter @confusedlois or email me lois.avery@confused.com
