Monkey business  

The ever-adventurous late-19th century underwriter Cuthbert Heath once insured a monkey. As an integral part of the act, the owner asked Heath to insure against the chimp’s death.

Years later, following the chimps sad demise, Heath paid up in full and had the chimp stuffed – it was kept in his office as an unusual example of salvage.



Stranger things have happened. But not many

When it comes to what people feel they need to insure, some things perhaps sit best in the ‘unbelieveable truth’ section.

  • Forty members of a Derbyshire Whiskers Club insured their beards against fire and theft. 
  • According to novelist and inventor Arthur C Clarke, director Stanley Kubrick wanted to take out insurance with Lloyd’s to protect himself against losses in the event that extraterrestrial intelligence was discovered before his movie, ‘2001: A Space Odyssey’ was released. Lloyd’s refused.
  • A Householder‘s Comprehensive policy from 1914 covered damage caused by aeroplanes, airships, riots, strikes – and suffragists. 
  • One policy was taken out by the owner of a presumably quite lively saloon against injuries his customers might afflict on others – a claim which led to fraud when a fight was staged and the claims money split between the combatants. 
  • Amongst many others, Lloyd's myth has it that  60,000 people have taken out policies just in case they’re turned into a vampire or a werewolf. The Twilight series has a lot to answer for.