Fact or Fiction?

Insurance geeks everywhere are buzzing about the latest issue of Insurance Journal. Well, maybe not, but this issue is sure to get a buzz or two from insurance news geeks nationwide.

That’s because the last issue of 2011 offers a collection of some of the more interesting insurance tidbits for your reading pleasure.

For example, did you know that Sir Edmund Halley — yes, the same one for whom the comet is named — constructed and published the first known mortality tables in 1693?

According to “Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk,” Halley used a very minimal sample of data — a small town in eastern Germany (now a part of Poland) — to develop the tables over a four year period. It is unlikely that his findings could be considered “actuarially accurate,” but it was the first step in applying probability to estimate human life.

Halley was years ahead of the insurance industry in predicting risk. In fact, insurance companies and governments would not make use of such life-expectancy tables for at least another century.

Another, perhaps more well-known insurance fact: New Hampshire is the only state that currently does not mandate auto liability but it does have a proof of financial responsibility requirement for drivers involved in accidents. The rest of the states and the District of Columbia have minimum auto liability insurance requirements. But it was Massachusetts that first required personal auto liability in order to register a vehicle.

But perhaps the most interesting insurance facts revolve around unusual insurance policies.

For example, did you know that Bruce Springsteen reportedly insured his voice with Lloyd’s of London for $5.7 million in the 1980s?

Did you know Major League Baseball’s St. Louis Cardinals once took out a $12 million disability policy for Mark McGuire? Or that fashion model Heidi Klum once insured her legs for $2.2 million.

Insurance coverage can get a little hairy, too.

Singer Tom Jones was rumored to have bought insurance for his famous swathes of chest hair. Procter & Gamble, which hired Pittsburgh Steelers strong safety Troy Polamalu as a spokesperson for its Head and Shoulders shampoo, insured Polamalu’s long curly hair for $1 million.

Insurance for body parts is no laughing matter either. United Kingdom-based Costa coffee shop chain’s chief taster Gennaro Pelliccia reportedly insured his tongue with Lloyd’s of London. Can’t get enough … don’t miss this year’s Market Fact Book on page N14.

Happy holidays and here’s to a prosperous 2012 from all of us at Insurance Journal.