Why Jeff Beck Took Out a $10 Million Insurance Policy on His Fingers After a Cooking Accident

For certain professions, certain body parts are the very thing that earns them their livelihood. For athletes, it could be their legs, and for actors, it could be their faces. That being said, these professionals take no risk on the revenue they could miss out on if their money-making assets were to be damaged unexpectedly. Hence, they take out insurance policies on them, and one figure who has done just that is the virtuoso guitarist, Jeff Beck.

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While Jeff Beck is certainly more than just a guitar player, that is how he has and continues to make a living. And, well, the only way you can play guitar is if you have fingers. So, when Jeff Beck accidentally chopped off the tip of one of his fingers, he went to his insurer and took out a $10 million insurance policy on all 10 of them. Again, this is crucial because if Jeff Beck didn’t have fingers, then he couldn’t play guitar. And if Jeff Beck couldn’t play guitar, then he would be missing out on a lot of financial gain.

Jeff Beck Was “Taking No Chances” After His Botched Cutting Job

On an arbitrary night in 2010, Jeff Beck was at his home in Sussex cooking himself a stew. Chopping up carrots for the dish, Beck then sliced the tip of one of his fingers clean off. At the time, a source close to Beck told The Mirror, “Jeff was making a stew when he cut his finger clean off.”

“Thankfully, surgeons were able to patch it up. But now he’s taking no chances and has upped his insurance to $ 1 million per finger,” they added. At the time of the accident, Jeff Beck was 65 years old and working on his 10th studio album, Emotion And Commotion. It was his first album in seven years, as he previously released Jeff in 2003.

Regardless, Beck luckily didn’t suffer an injury that hindered his guitar-playing abilities extensively. However, the close call made the guitarist realize the fragility and financial importance of his 10 assets. Thus, after the accident, he seemingly took little to no time to file his new insurance policy.

It isn’t too complicated to realize why Beck did this. Ultimately, it’s the same reason we all have insurance—to mitigate financial risk when unexpected events occur.

Jeff Beck is far from the only musician to ensure his bodily assets. Other musicians who have similar insurance policies include Bruce Springsteen and his vocal cords and Keith Richards and his hands, among others.

Photo by Charlie Crowhurst/Getty Images

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