Lloyd's: insuring the famous and the bizarre

An engraving of the Queen and Duke of Edinburgh on a grain of rice has been insured at Lloyds

Virtually anything can be insured at Lloyd's. In fact the market has become famous for providing some of the more unusual cover available.

• One of the most famous Lloyd's stars was Betty Grable whose 'million-dollar legs' sold many a cinema ticket.

• Food critic and gourmet Egon Ronay has insured his taste buds for £250,000.
  

  Bruce Springsteen: Voice insured for ¿3.5m
  
• Cutty Sark Whisky offered a £1 million prize to anyone who could capture the Loch Ness Monster alive. They guarded against the loss by taking out a Lloyd's policy.

• A grain of rice with a portrait of the Queen and the Duke of Edinburgh engraved on it was also insured at Lloyd's for $20,000.

• A confident comedy theatre group insured themselves against the risk of a member of their audience dying laughing.

• A killer whale called Namu, captured off the Canadian Pacific coast and towed to Seattle for display in an aquarium, was insured for $8,000 against various contingencies including rescue attempts by other whales.

• In 1901, the first car which was insured at Lloyd's was covered by a marine policy.

  Cars were such a novelty the underwriter wrote a normal marine policy for the car on the basis that it was a ship navigating on dry land.

  

  The futuristic Lloyd's building
  

• African actress Kerry Wallace had her head completely shaved to promote a Star Trek film. She was insured against the possibility of her hair failing to grow again properly.

• Lloyd's underwriters are also leaders in the field of insuring rock stars, covering anything from personal effects to equipment or concert cancellation.

  Acts on underwriters' books over the last ten years have included Eric Clapton, Bob Dylan, Michael Jackson, Eurythmics, Elton John, Led Zeppelin, Police, the Rolling Stones, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder, The Who, and Bruce Springsteen who has insured his voice for £3.5m.

• One of Lloyd's most famous losses was the Titantic lost at sea on April 16, 1912.