If you feel proud for potentially having a $1 million insurance claim in the nearest future, some people expect to receive up to $10,000 when the unexpected happens. As much as you won’t believe this, some insurance companies have suffered bankruptcy and collapse after paying out some huge claims – and this leads us to a list of the most expensive insurance contracts and claims in recorded history.
List of most expensive insurance contracts and claims ever made
1- $201 million life insurance policy
An unnamed Silicon Valley billionaire bought a life policy worth a whopping $201 million. It is the largest ever life policy in human history and the money will be paid to the man’s family upon his death. The man was insured by SG Premier Lending Group in Santa Barbara, California, and the policy was to help pay off the taxes incurred by the man’s huge assets which were established to cater for his family.
According to the Guinness World Records, the previous biggest life insurance policy on record before this mystery man purchased his $201 policy was a $100 million policy purchased by an American entertainer. The president and founder of SG Premier Lending Group, Dovi Frances, said the $201 million risk was spread to 19 different insurance companies and the highest allotted to each insurer is $20 million.
2- Actor Mr. Bean gets £910,000 for car repairs
When British actor Mr. Bean, real name Rowan Atkinson, bought his very rare McLaren F1 for £640,000, he had no idea the car’s value would rise to £3.5 million over the years. But in 2011, he entered a ditch in the middle of the road that left his precious car damaged – his insurance company coughed out £910,000 to get the car fixed. It is the most expensive car insurance claim ever made.
3- £26.5 million paid out for three paintings
An insurer paid out £26.5 million in 1996 when three art paintings were stolen two years earlier from an art gallery in Frankfurt, Germany. The Tate Gallery in London had insured each of the paintings for about £13 million before giving them out on loan to Germany. Funny enough, the thieves who stole the artwork sold them back to the authorities for £270,000 after the insurance claim was settled.
4- $212 million life insurance claim
The Dunhill Marketing and Insurance company in the US paid out $212 million to the estate of a policyholder who had been paying an annual premium of $6,148,000. It was the biggest life insurance claim ever paid and the benefit was targeted to fund organizations listed by the policyholder.
5- £15.4 trillion insurance claim settled
A staggering £15.4 trillion – more than the GDP of the United States – was paid out when the financial sector crumbled in 2008. Although the collapse of the financial sector made many banks, businesses, and economies fail, the insurance companies that underwrote the insurance policy also went solvent after the payout.
6- £16,000 pet insurance claim for cat’s surgery
In 2010, an insurance company made a payout of £16,000 for a cat’s kidney surgery following a claim filed by its owner. It is the most expensive claim for pet insurance and analysts said the cat was not rare or special in any way – it was just an ordinary house cat.
Other outstanding payouts
Pinney Insurance company in the United States paid out a life insurance benefit of $41 million which the policyholder took out to clear his debts after his demise. True Blue Life Insurance also paid out $15 million taken out by a man to keep his family convenient after his death. And Abrams Inc Solutions shelled out $10 million which a couple wanted to be paid to a family trust after their deaths.
Photo by Vlad Deep on Unsplash
