What are the 5 largest insurance covers ever sold?

Introduction

Life insurance cover is meant to act as a protective shield for you and your loved ones against the uncertainties of life. 

The benefits of life insurance vary from one plan to another. For example, a pure life insurance plan, also called term plan, like the Future Generali Flexi Online Term Plan extends the benefits of either a lump-sum income or a monthly income on your death if that happens during the term of the plan.

Such plans come with only death benefits so that your family’s immediate financial needs are taken care of and they can maintain their standard of living. It can provide life cover up to the age of 75 years. Then there are plans that help you fortify your family’s financial future with both maturity benefit and death benefit.

In some plans in the market, once your policy matures at the end of the policy term and if you have paid all your due premiums, you will receive maturity benefit. Plans are designed such that it gives an opportunity to enhance your maturity payout by way of bonuses. In another instance, you can look for plans that are designed to fund very specific needs.

Some plans enable you to save systematically until your child turns 17 years for his/her graduation or post-graduation college fees. It is a guaranteed income plan that aims to protect your child’s education in the unfortunate event of your death. Thus, the life cover extends to keep your child’s journey to his/her goals hiccup-free.

It is normally assumed that wealthy people wouldn’t benefit from life insurance. But the truth is that even they want a policy for the same reasons as we do: policyholders want their families to be able to maintain their existing lifestyles in the unfortunate event of their death. Therefore, it’s common to see wealthy individuals take out massive life insurance policies. Let’s take a peek at some of these:

1. The Guinness record holder: The most valuable life insurance policy ever sold, according to Guinness World Records, is valued at a total of $201 million, on the life of a well-known U.S. billionaire who resides in the Silicon Valley area of California and is actively known in the technology space. The record-breaking insurance policy was sold by Dovi Frances, Managing Partner of SG LLC, a company based in Santa Barbara, California, USA. The policy features a combined death benefit to be paid upon the death of the insured. The name hasn’t been publicly disclosed. The global records authority confirms this on its website.
2. The previous record-holder: Few people in financial services have had a career as interesting or varied as life insurance salesman Peter Rosengard. One of the highlights of his career was selling the highest life insurance policy amount at the time. He sold the world’s largest life insurance policy, a $100m policy for David Geffen, the boss of Geffen Records.
3. Highest face value: According to a popular insurance blog, Jeff Rose, an insurance agent, wrote the largest policy with a $212 million face value and a $6,148,000 premium. The wealthy policyholder wanted the policy to serve him dual purpose: first, $175 million for estate planning and estate taxes and second, to leave large endowments to his favourite institutions.
4. India’s most expensive policy: Closer to home, a policy was purchased with a premium of Rs 50 crore in Mumbai during the demonetisation wave. The record premium was paid by an individual for a pension plan
5. Bollywood celebrities in the insurance market: It has also been reported that a top Bollywood actor purchased Rs 2-crore pension plan that will get him an annuity of nearly Rs 15 lakh every year. 

While these amounts make us gasp, they also bring out the personality of life insurance. The benefits of life insurance aren’t unknown to the wealthiest of people. It is about finding that sweet spot – the perfect balance whereby the policyholder can leave sufficient funds for the family, loved ones and dependents so that they can maintain their lifestyle and have a financial cushion in times of crisis, at least until they can get on their own financial feet. We may refrain from talking about death all we like, but it can strike anytime – it is uncertainty even the richest aren’t immune to.