Life in the upper strata...
Imagine facing these sorts of problems every day -- this is a short news item so I'll quote it in full -- the whole thing is really remarkable:
From
Bloomberg.com
bq.
Britney Spears Sues Eight Insurers Over Canceled Tour
Pop music star Britney Spears is seeking more than $9.8 million in a lawsuit against eight insurers that haven't reimbursed her for 30 canceled shows.
bq. The 23-year-old singer canceled the third leg of her 82-city Onyx Hotel Tour last summer when she injured her knee during a video shoot in June, according to the suit, filed in State Supreme Court in Manhattan on Feb. 4.
bq. Spears, whose chart-topping singles include "...Baby One More Time" and "Oops!...I Did It Again" said several insurers won't pay the claim because she didn't disclose in her "pre-tour medical report" that she had knee surgery in 1999. The prior injury was widely known and her failure to disclose it was an "innocent omission," the suit said.
bq. Insurers that have denied her claim include Liberty Syndicate Management Ltd., Beazley Furlong Ltd., and Talbot Underwriting Ltd., which sell insurance in the Lloyd's of London market, and Sydney-based QBE Insurance Group Ltd. Swiss Reinsurance Co.'s SR International Business, and Glenn Allen, Virginia-based Markel Corp. also denied it, the suit said.
bq. Two other insurers, units of France's Axa SA and Germany's Munich Re, haven't said whether they will pay her claim, the suit said.
bq. Clara Rodrigo, a spokeswoman for Paris-based Axa, France's biggest insurer, confirmed that Axa Re is one of the insurers and declined to comment further. Munich Re spokesman Rainer Kueppers had no immediate comment.
bq. Spokespeople for Markel and Swiss Re didn't immediately return phone calls, and representatives for Liberty, Beazley, QBE, and Talbot couldn't be reached.
bq. Premiums
bq. Spears said she paid the insurers $1.3 million in premiums. The insurance covered "abandonment, postponement or cancellation" of performances in the average amount of $380,000 per show.
bq. Several of the insurers that denied claims also said she shouldn't have done the video shoot because she had suffered a knee injury a few months earlier that forced her to cancel two shows, the suit said. The policies don't prohibit Spears from shooting a music video during a tour hiatus, Spears said.
Knee injury and then surgery to correct it and you then try to go on the road a few months later? Failing to disclose this to your insurance companies? They have people who can fact-check your ass so it behooves you to be honest with them. What were you thinking? Finally, why so many overseas insurance companies?
At least you have your career:
Britney's Guide to Semiconductor Physics
Posted by DaveH at February 8, 2005 10:27 PM