411: The most expensive body parts in sport

Coming from the point of view of a sports team, business insurance can be quite risky. This might sound like a strange sentiment, but after looking at what these sports stars have insured (and for how much) you’ll be sure to see things differently.

Let’s take a look at what parts of their body these various sports stars have insured for huge sums.

Not surprisingly, topping the list we have current Real Madrid striker Cristiano Ronaldo.

He decided to insure his most profitable assets, his legs of course, for a cool $144 million. I guess when you earned $42 million between May 2011 and May 2012 (according to Forbes), you can afford those kinds of insurance premiums. And with a career like the one Ronaldo is having, I would also make certain my means of such an income were protected.

Next up we have an ex-Real Madrid and current LA Galaxy footballer, David Beckham.

In this case, David started off in 2000 by insuring his legs for $35 million each ($70 million in total). But as time went on he felt they were worth more, and proceeded to double that amount in 2006. So that means those legs are worth a giant $140 million. Fortunately his salary of $46 million, that Forbes says he earned in 2012, is more than enough to cover those premiums.

Moving on to motorsport we come across Ferrari’s Formula One driver Cristiano Ronaldo.

One of the more interesting things to be insured, Alonso had a policy of $13.8 million taken out for his thumbs. Now this specific insurance policy was taken out by his main sponsor, Santander. Whether this was for the sake of publicity or not, he wouldn’t be able to continue in F1 without them.

This next individual is recognisable from far away as a result of his insured asset.

Troy Polamalu is a defender for the Pittsburgh Steelers, and his mane of hair was insured by the hair-care brand Head & Shoulders® for $1 million. They took out the insurance policy with Lloyd’s of London to protect their spokesperson’s massive head of hair throughout the NFL season. With distinctive looks like that, it’s easy to see why Head & Shoulders® would want them protected.

While Australian cricket player Merve Hughes also had hair insured, it wasn’t on his head.

The big-hearted Australian fast bowler played for his country from 1985-1994. During that period he became known not only for his aggressive bowling, but also for his large moustache. At one point it was described by Cricinfo as being “of incredible proportions”. This led Hughes to insure his trademark moustache to effect of $317,000. His moustache stayed with him throughout his bowling career for Australia, and he still has it as a selector for the Wallabies.

So, if you feel you have something about you that’s worth insuring you could always have a word with your employer and see if they can add your asset to their business insurance policy. Alternatively, you could always see if there are any sponsors out there who share your passion for insuring a part of yourself.

By Ireyan Weber @ TrafficFundi | http://trafficfundi.com/

GoXtra News - Facebook | Twitter | GoTv Channel