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When we think of insurance, we usually have auto, homeowner’s, and medical insurance on our minds. But what about when we want to protect a random body part? Our heart, our arms, maybe even our eyes?
Weird insurance policies have been made famous for decades by celebrities. Bruce Springsteen insured his voice for millions of dollars. Kim Kardashian insured her butt for an enormous sum, too. The reason celebrities do this is to make sure they prevent losses that would occur if they couldn’t use these body parts. It’s essentially a business decision.
We’ll talk about how non-celebrity people might start to think about insuring uncommon body parts due to new types of jobs becoming relevant right now and in the future. We’ll also discuss how it is important to take out an insurance policy on body parts that are valuable to you in one way or another.
#1 – Don’t Go Through Typical Insurance Companies
Anybody who wants to get insurance on a body part is probably going to have a tough time going through your typical insurance company. State Farm, GEICO, and Progressive are all great for car insurance.
These companies are usually going to suggest the customer get a basic liability policy rather than one for a specific body part. This would be cheaper and cover a broader range of injuries, too.
Celebrities opt to get a more specialized policy because the payout might be better on the specific body part. Normal people who have enough money to pay specialized premiums might feel the same way.
Specialized Insurance
You might have better luck if you go through a specialty insurance company. These are often smaller groups that focus on individual customer needs rather than the larger population. Lloyd’s of London is one of the main groups in the world that finds insurance policies for people who want weird or specialized insurance.
Having a good relationship with your agent at a specialized company is important. This person will help you go step by step to determine whether it’s a good option for you to ensure a body part. The agent will talk about the ways you can decrease your monthly rates in the same ways you would for a car or home policy.
#2 – Your Body Part Should Have Value
The only point of getting an insurance policy on a body part is if it’s very valuable. Insurance companies that give out these policies have to deem the client isn’t a large risk, though, just like a car insurance company would with a driver.
If they decide the person applying for a weird policy might need to file a claim frequently, they may decide to pass, or they will jack their rates up through the roof.
This high price may not be a problem for celebrities, but it would be for other people. Let’s think about a few examples. Harvey Lowe was a highly-skilled yo-yo user in the early 20th century. He insured his hands in case of an injury that happened to them.
This was very smart, as his hands are the entire reason he was able to yo-yo. If they were to get hurt, he would lose his ability to make money from yo-yoing. From the perspective of the insurance company, they had to decide whether using a yo-yo is a high-risk activity.
It’s not likely an injury would occur to Lowe’s hands beyond some cramping, so the policy price may not have been as high as someone who works in construction building homes.
Normal People and Their Body Parts
Common jobs like construction is where a normal person might think about the value of their own body. Contractors like roofers, builders, and plumbers all have to think about what would happen if something happened to their body parts. Construction workers are at a higher risk of having a workplace accident than nearly all other professions.
With this increased risk of injury would come a very high premium to insure body parts like legs, arms, and hands. These parts are all vital to doing construction jobs, and they are all very likely to get injured on the job.
A construction worker would have to weigh the risk of getting injured with the price of the policy they are looking for. If the monthly premiums cost more than what it would sit out of work while the broken body part heals, they might skip getting insurance.
#3 – Body Part Insurance Might Become Even More Popular
Non-celebrities might start to think about insuring body parts more often than they did in the past. This is because Millennials and Gen Zers are more creative in their occupational pursuits.
They have more specialized skills than in the past. Someone 25 years ago might have worked a boring office job, but the younger generations are becoming more entrepreneurial and artsy.
Let’s say a young entrepreneur starts their own cooking show on YouTube. In this scenario, a sense of smell is vital to know whether the food you are making is good. This person might decide to take out a policy on their nose.
This isn’t something that would have been thought about as much in the past. Sure, a chef at a big restaurant may have thought about this, but not your typical person at home.
Online Careers
The internet has allowed people to try different careers and side hustles taking advantage of their unique skills. In turn, these folks may need to get insurance policies on body parts that make these skills possible.
As more people try to expand their career goals, they need to think about protecting their biggest assets. Shop around to see if the typical insurance agencies will give you policies on body parts. If they don’t, this is when it is time to start looking for a specialized policy.
Celebrities aren’t the only ones who need to ensure their bodies, and as more insurance companies realize this, the policies will become more accessible.
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Shawn Laib writes and researches for the insurance site, USInsuranceAgents.com. He wants to help people understand that insurance policies go beyond the basic liability coverage for a car.
