In a year when more superheroes will be gracing our screens than ever before, we wondered how powers would affect life insurance. After all, even with god-like abilities, battling supervillains is a sure fire way to put yourself in danger. From most to least insurable, here are some of our favourite superpowers.
- A spoiler-free guide to what cover superheroes could get
- Our graphic reveals which powers could prevent an insurance claim
- What superpower would make life insurance unnecessary?
In our latest campaign, we celebrated the everyday heroes looking after their loved ones. But what if you were a comic book hero with superpowers? We ask how they would affect your life insurance policy.
Healing Factor
Insurers will ask potential customers questions about past and present medical conditions, as these may affect the terms that are offered.
A healing factor could stop symptoms or conditions occurring, which means no medical history affecting your policy – even if you have retractable claws.Hands held up.
Future sight
The ability to see the future is a definite advantage when it comes to staying safe. If you can see the danger coming, you can get out of the way.
If your sense of the future gives you only a couple of seconds to react, like a certain cinematic superhero, you’ll have to rely on your (spider-like) reactions to dodge the danger.
Teleportation
Combined with future sight, teleportation could help insurance claimants. By itself, it’s useful to be able to dodge the danger – but you do have to see it first.
You’ll also need to keep in mind where you are teleporting to, as insurers ask about overseas travel. If you’re travelling to remote locations – space, other planets or different dimensions, for example – it would need to be disclosed and could affect the terms of your policy.
X-ray vision
You can see what’s lurking around a corner or whether someone is concealing a weapon. Just don’t be tempted to play the hero if you see a crime being committed behind a wall.
In fact, if you do have a superpower, think long and hard before getting into the superhero gig, as insurers ask potential customers about their job when assessing their policies.
Force fields
Like teleportation, force fields can help protect you from harm – as long as you can activate them in time.
They’ll also need to be strong enough to protect you from whatever danger you get yourself into.
Super strength
Super strength doesn’t necessarily mean invulnerability. It’s also one power that superheroes love to show off. Lift one too many tonnes to wow the crowds, and you could do yourself some serious damage.
Also, if your super strength is the result of being hit by radiation, or infected by an alien parasite, then you will probably need to notify your insurer about your medical condition.
Flying
Insurers ask customers to disclose if they engage in any hazardous activities on a regular basis. For example, being a bomb disposal expert affects your policy.
A dangerous activity like flying will also have an impact. In fact, almost any superpowered activity is likely to be of interest to insurers.
That’s even if, like a bomb disposal expert or a catlike king, you have a protective suit – you are still putting yourself in danger, so premiums would likely be higher.
Invisibility
Being invisible seems more like a risk than a benefit.
If something does happen, you may be one of the many superheroes that gets resurrected.
Please note though, if your dependents have already claimed on your life insurance when you come back to life, your insurance company may view that claim as fraud.
At that point, you may be tempted to stay invisible!
Immortality
Do you really want to be paying life insurance premiums for the rest of your life, especially if that means for all eternity?
What about heroes without any powers?
The most famous powerless superheroes have wealth on their side and are therefore unlikely to need insurance.
For the others, joining one of the many superhero teams and then persuading the boss to create an employee insurance policy might a good idea.
It’s impossible to say for certain whether any superhero would be able to take out an insurance policy. Thankfully, superpowered vigilantes are a work of fiction, so insurers will never have to worry about telling the god of thunder about rising premium rates. Instead, they can focus on helping real-life heroes: the partners, parents and guardians who look after their loved ones.