Pretty Woman, Julia Roberts’, smile is a million dollar both literally and figuratively. She has her smile insured for $30 million! Powerful singing voices, legs and even smiles come at a price. If anything ever happened to the Bruce Springsteen‘ vocals, David Beckham‘s legs or Julia Roberts‘ killer smile, they would be out of a paycheck.  So What do they? they get it insured. Make sense right..but question is for how much? Taylor Swift has got her legs insured for $40 million  ahead of her  world tour in 2015. Reason that for her high energy performance on stage her legs are a valuable asset.  By doing so Taylor has joined a long list of other celebrities who are getting their prized body parts are insured. Stars go for the weirdest insurances – from breasts, fingers and waists to moustache, chest hair and even taste buds and smile. This is a Hollywood concept right it does not happen in India? Really ! Do you know who in Bollywood has gone for insurance of which of their body parts and why?

Hollywood Stars, SportsMen and Insurance of their Assets

While Sportsmen have insured their legs , Hollywoord Stars go for the insurances – from breasts, fingers and waists to moustache, chest hair and even taste buds and smile. Let’s see who has insured what body parts been insured and for how much? For the infographics on Insurance you can see our Pinterest board on Insurance

Legs

After acquiring the Portuguese footballer Cristiano Ronaldo for a record $131 million in 2009, football club Real Madrid wanted to ensure his legs were well-protected and created a policy valued at  $144 million! Yes, that’s what they get to cash in if ever Cristiano suffers a serious injury to his thighs or calves.  The insuring of Ronaldo’s legendary legs comes shortly after Czech footballer Zdenek Grygera delivered a vicious kick to Cristiano’s leg near the knee during a recent friendly match .”Football in England is different; it is more physical,” Cristiano told The Examiner. “There are some teams who know they can’t compete with you on a football level, so they just kick you. It’s frustrating and something needs to be done to protect the skillful players, because one day someone will get seriously hurt.”

English football star David Beckham‘s $70 million (Rs 350 crore) insurance covered all knee and ankle injuries.

 Mariah Carey think her legs are far more valuable than any footballer’s for it is rumoured that she has insured them for $1 billion and that’s after deducting $200,000 for a scar! (Although we wonder why she didn’t choose to insure her voice, She is a singer right?)  Legs, particularly, are a favourite part to get insured. Actress Jamie Lee Curtis’s legs are insured for $2.8 million while supermodel Heidi Klum’s  are worth $2.2 million. Popstar Rihanna insured hers for $1 million. Singer Tina Turner had her legs insured for $3.2 million. Taylor Swift has got her legs insured for $40 million  ahead of her world tour from May 2015.

Taylor Swift has also patented lyrics from her  album 1989, prohibiting others from using them on various items including T-shirts and printed publications without her consent. She has trademarked This Sick Beat from her single Shake It Off and also phrases like Cause We Never Go Out of Style,Party Like It’s 1989, Nice to Meet You Where You Been? and Could Show You Incredible Things. Taylor Swift is not only a good singer,she has an estimated net worth of $200 million in 2014, but also a smart business woman.

Butt:Another part which many Hollywood celebrities have gone for is, their butt or derrière. Actor-singer Jennifer Lopez is rumoured to have insured her butt for $27 million. Kylie Minogue has her butt insured for $5 million. Kim Kardashian has her derrière insured for $21 million.

Smile: Julia Roberts smile is worth $30 million.  Ugly Betty, Starrer America Ferrera’s, smile for $10 million Quora has an interesting article on What is it specifically about Julia Roberts’s smile that makes it so noteworthy?

Body: Daniel Craig, James Bond actor, body was reportedly insured for 5 million pounds back in 2008, when he was shooting for Quantum of Solace.It is believed that Craig insisted on doing his own stunts and suffered several injuries, so producers decided to keep their star covered

Face: German supermodel Claudia Schiffer’s face is worth five million dollars.

Chest: Singer Tom Jones chose to insure his chest hair for $7 million.

Breasts: Buxom popstar, Dolly Parton, had insured her 42-inch breasts for $3.8 million . Madonna has insured her breasts for $2 million. Holly Madison has hers insured for $1 million. In her words from ABC News “If anything happened to my boobs, I’d be out for a few months and I’d probably be out a million dollars,” Holly told People. “I thought I’d cover my assets… They’re my primary money makers right now”

Voice: Rocker Bruce Springsteen’s voice is insured for $6 million. 

Hands: The Rolling Stones’ iconic singer guitarist Keith Richards has hands worth $1.6 million.

Taste Buds, Tongue : Celebrated wine taster, Angela Mount, had her taste buds protected with a $16 million policy. Costa Coffee’s Coffee taster, Gennaro Pelliccia ,has a tongue insured for $14 million dollars. Pelliccia has tasted tens of thousands styles of coffee, and thru his tongue is able to discern the differences. “The taste buds of a Master of Coffee are as important as the vocal cords of a singer or the legs of a top model, and this is one of the biggest single insurance policies taken out for one person,” said a spokesman for Lloyd’s broker Glencairn Limited, which arranged the insurance cover.

Moustache: Australian cricketer Merv Hughes insured his trademark moustache for $317,000

Sperm: The most unusual insurance has to be Van Halen singer David Lee Roth’s.In 1981, Roth insured his sperm for $1 million. Most people think that this was a precautionary measure to ward off any paternity lawsuits from spurned and angry groupies.

If Celebrity insuring their assets a new concept?

This is a not a new concept, its been there since  1920s. The Fred Astaire ,best known as the dancing partner and on-screen romantic interest of Ginger Rogers, with whom he co-starred in a series of ten Hollywood musicals in 1930-40s. His legs were insured $75,000 each, and he also had coverage on his wrists and arms for $20,000.  In the 1940s, actress Bette Davis bought a $28,000 policy buffering herself against losses due to gains – her own weight gain, that is.

Who Does Insurance of Body Parts of these Hollywood celebrities and Who pays?

Lloyd’s of London is the insurance firm that does most such jobs for Hollywood celebs, often insuring stars from head to toe.  As per Investopedia article,6 Bizarre Celebrity Insurance Policies, 

Policy is covered by entertainment companies or endorsers. For example, Proctor & Gamble has an insurance policy on Pittsburgh Steeler Troy Polamalu’s curly, long tresses because the NFL strong safety is the face of the company’s shampoo, Head & Shoulders. Likewise, as a poster child of pearly white smile, Aquafresh has insured the teeth of Ugly Betty’s America Ferrara’s teeth for $10 million. Insiders speculate that the trend of insuring body parts is used to create press for a celebrity or ignite attention for a brand and to increase the overall dollar value on what is deemed a priceless star.

Bollywood stars and Insurance

After Dostana catapulted his rear in tiny swimming trunks to fame in 2008, John Abraham decided to have it covered with a policy worth an alleged Rs 10 crore. While he never confirmed the actual amount, the actor did state that he had taken up the initiative

Priyanka Chopra wants to copyright her smile The whole issue cropped up some time ago when the actress reportedly came to know that certain dentists in Mumbai had set up a thriving trade promising young girls the Priyanka Chopra Smile after necessary surgical tweaking.

Amitabh Bachchan wants to copyright his voice. Big B was not happy when he discovered that a voice over artist had recorded a gutka commercial in Bachchan style of dialogue delivery. The superstar, who is known to steer clear of all sorts of intoxicants whatsoever, including alcohol, tobacco and tobacco products, felt such an advertisment could mislead fans into believing he had personally recorded the commercial. “This is unethical and has painted me in a bad light. For someone who does not smoke or propagate smoking, it is disgusting to find someone conflagrating the law of the land,” he had said, adding that he wasn’t against people using his voice as long as a legal contract was drawn up to ensure his voice was used in a way that would not affect his image.

Rajnikanth The superstar has had his voice insured and copyrighted, so no one can imitate him without his consent!

Sunny Deol also plans to patent his voice and dialogue delivery.

Neha Dhupia, claims she was approached to have her derriere insured from the same company that has in the past insured Jennifer Lopez’s butt.

Reference:  UK Daily Mail’s Vanity insanity of stars patenting their body parts: The global showbiz fad seems to be now trickling into Bollywood

Common Man and Insurance of His Assets

Insurance protects you against the risk of the unknown.While we usually can’t stop bad things from occurring, we can opt to give our lives a bit of protection. Insurance is meant to give us some measure of protection, at least financially, should a disaster happen  like a car accident, the medical costs of a serious illness, or the death of a spouse.There are numerous insurance options available and it is difficult to determine what insurance you really need. Purchasing the right insurance is always determined by your specific situation. Factors such as children, age, lifestyle and employment benefits are all points to consider when planning your insurance. Which are the insurance policies that one must have?

Life Insurance  : The greatest factor in having life insurance is providing for those you leave behind. This is extremely important if you have a family that is dependent on your salary to pay the bills. It is suggested that a life insurance policy should cover ten times your yearly income. This sum would provide enough money to cover existing expenses, funeral expenses and give your family a financial cushion. Our article Life Insurance explains different kinds of Life Insurance policies like Term Plans and Endowment, Money Back, Whole Life, Unit Linked Plan along with examples.and the differences between different kind of Life Insurance policies. A Term plan is a pure protection plan and one must have it.

Health Insurance: Is  your family is just one serious illness away from bankruptcy? Your good health is what allows you to work and earn money and otherwise enjoy life. If you were to come down with a sickness or have an accident without health insurance you may find yourself unable to receive treatment or even in debt . Even a basic hospital bill without insurance can run into the thousands of rupees. Ask yourself is it worth risking financial ruin to save a few bucks on a health insurance premium? Many employers provide health insurance benefits.

Auto Insurance :  Auto mobiles are quite expensive and if it gets damaged you want to be able to repair or replace it. Most automotive insurance policies cover bodily injury or death of another person in an incident that you are legally responsible.It can also cover legal defence costs. Our article What is Car Insurance explains the car insurance in detail.

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Assess your life and your needs and think about what you need to protect. The expense of not having insurance is nothing compared to the expense of living without it. Do you think insurance is necessary? If yes of what kind? What kind of insurance do you have? Which is the type of insurance that one must have.