Insuring Superheroes, Property and Liability Edition: What Would It Take?

Superheroes are just like us. Their home might be a massive headquarters filled with futuristic gadgets instead of a quiet house with a white picket fence, but that’s even more reason to insure their property and belongings. Let’s unpack what it might take to insure a superhero for home and liability coverage.

Home Insurance 

By nature, superheroes live in the coolest pads and collect even cooler stuff. A certain independently wealthy caped crusader with weaponized vehicles comes to mind, though plenty of other superheroes maintain their alter egos and secret identities as regular folks living in a regular house or apartment. Whatever type of dwelling they live in, superheroes might seek out the following types of property, auto, and liability insurance to protect it and the assets inside. 

What Would Affect Premiums? 

Insurance agents may find it challenging to assign a value to features like intergalactic force fields, time machines, or priceless artifacts, but this process, along with the factors below, might affect home insurance premiums for superheroes:

• Property Type and Value: This could vary from castles, to fortresses, to urban headquarters where superheroes have their finger on the pulse of the city. Some superheroes dwell in old-money mansions while others belong to the working class.
• Location: Let’s assume superheroes would have a pretty accurate idea of the crime rate in their neighborhood and its effect on their home value. Other location-based factors like flood zones, power grids, and proximity to nemeses might impact premiums.
• Home Security and Safety Features: Let’s also assume superheroes know a little something about home security — whether they plan to avert intruders at the door with their own martial arts expertise or employ a Fort-Knox-grade security system, they’ve likely got home defense on lock (pun intended).  
• Credit History: Chances are a wealthy superhero would have no problem demonstrating a high credit score and a long, debt-free credit history. While no evidence exists of a superhero actually using their powers to improve their credit score, suffice it to say they all seem to have good credit, which is critical for low premiums.
• Attractive Nuisances: Attractive nuisances like trampolines and swimming pools on a property can affect premiums for everyday folks. Attractive nuisances are unlikely for superheroes though, since they could draw attention to their off-duty alter egos. 
• Coverage Amounts and Deductibles: Naturally, superheroes tend to need more comprehensive coverage for their unique property than you and me. Until a discount for costumed crime fighters becomes available, though, superheroes can expect to pay higher premiums for higher coverage.

Home Insurance Features to Consider 

Beyond protecting their unusual assets, superheroes may require additional coverage. The following are just some of the special options available for homeowners insurance:

• Umbrella Policies: This type of coverage can include injuries and property damage occurring at home and protect superheroes from lawsuits and liability. While superheroes typically settle their scores outside of court, this might help in a superhero-versus-regular-human situation.
• Scheduled Personal Property Coverage: This type of insurance covers specific items of significant value that are not included in a regular homeowner’s policy, such as jewelry or artwork. Classy superheroes with a taste for the finer things often need to insure them this way. 
• Special Add-on Coverages: Superheroes who live in a place prone to floods, wildfires, or earthquakes — whether they’re caused by nature, an opened wormhole, or an arch-nemesis — may need extra coverage. 

Auto Insurance 

Superheroes with their own bespoke vehicles may need equally unique automobile insurance. Traditional car insurance might be enough for superheroes who prefer to stay modest or drive their “ordinary” cars when out-of-costume, but those who drive custom builds need special coverage. Superheroes must also take into account their state’s minimum liability laws, even if those laws exclude anomalies like time machines and high-speed hovercrafts.

What Would Affect Premiums? 

Superheroes may have access to a wider range of exotic concept cars than the typical driver, but they must be insured to drive it on public roads. The following factors can impact policy costs:

• Personal Details: Traits including age and gender can affect a typical driver’s premium rates; however, there may be more gray area here for superheroes, especially those with time-traveling or shapeshifting abilities. Male teenage superheroes, though, can expect to pay the highest rates as insurance companies consider young men to be one of the riskiest demographics to insure.
• Vehicle Details: When a superhero drives a vehicle so exclusive that only one exists anywhere in the world, they will pay high premiums to insure it. The more valuable the vehicle, the more it costs to protect it.
• Storage Details: Chances are, a superhero with a signature car spared no expense in creating an equally special hideout for it at home; however, their premiums could go up if their storage spot seems too risky to keep thieves and other villains at bay, such as parking it on the street instead of inside a garage.
• Driving Habits and History: Whereas regular drivers may have an accident or DUI to contend with when buying car insurance, superheroes might rack up bad habits like driving sideways on a building, transforming their car into a plane mid-air, or crossing the space-time continuum. This would certainly impact their insurance risk assessment, causing premiums to rise.
• Replacement Cost vs. Actual Cash Value: For most drivers, a car’s actual cash value begins to depreciate when it leaves the lot. Superheroes would likely be more concerned with their car’s replacement cost (the cost to replace it not accounting for depreciation), though. This is especially true if they are insuring an irreplaceable, one-of-a-kind crime fighting vehicle.  
• Coverage Amounts and Deductibles: Higher coverage for superhero cars and full liability while driving require higher premiums. While superhero coverage may require higher monthly payments to keep benefits active, it could also offer lower deductibles to offset the premium rates. 

Auto Insurance Features to Consider 

Superheroes might consider special features for added protection. Non-standard vehicle coverage might suit high-risk superheroes with a history of lapsed policies, serious infractions, and/or frequent accidents. 

Regular folks sometimes consider comprehensive coverage for acts of nature like fallen trees, fires, and vandalism, but superheroes might need protection from laser combat, giant creature rampages, or villainous environmental warfare. High liability limits may also be necessary for superheroes who regularly pursue rivals at high speed.

Specialty Liability Insurances 

There are some other insurance types that may be especially fitting for superheroes:

• Professional Liability Insurance: This type of insurance would cover superheroes who make a mistake during the course of their regular professional duties, or are accused of negligence or misrepresentation in their quest to save the world. 
• Workers’ Compensation Insurance: Workers’ compensation could come in handy for superheroes and their sidekicks, protecting them from disastrous events like being thrown from an airplane while in pursuit of a runaway villain.

Super Strength or Not, Find Super Coverage

Of course, this is all merely speculative. Any superheroes out there seeking coverage should reach out to a trusted insurance agent to find the best coverage possible. Regardless of whether you live at superhero HQ or in your own personal hideout, everyone should protect their homestead and belongings with a home insurance policy. Since superheroes tend to live in unique homes and drive cool cars, they can’t skimp on the auto insurance, either. All it takes to make saving the world a little less risky is the right insurance!