Tendulkar gets Rs 100 cr cover

While cricket superstar Sachin Tendulkar awaits a ‘century of centuries’, his new five-storey bungalow in Bandra has already scored one. The “little master” has taken an insurance cover worth a whopping Rs 100 crore for the house.

The cover, touted as one of the highest taken by an individual, is in two parts: a fire insurance policy of Rs 75 crore and an additional cover of Rs 25 crore for items within the house. Though insurance sources did not divulge the premium paid for the policy, they said it should be in the region of Rs 40-50 lakh annually. The first policy is a cover against fire, terrorism activities, act-of-God peril (like earthquake), bomb blast, burglary, etc. “It also covers the cost of the bungalow land, compound walls, electrical equipment, security installations and water reservoir,” said an insurance source who did not wish to be named. The master blaster has taken an additional cover of Rs 25 crore for items inside the mansion. These included his cricket kits, pictures, wrist watches, furniture, electronic gadgets and others, the source added.

Being a high-value policy, the cover was provided by a consortium of insurers, including the four state-owned general insurers, Oriental Insurance Company, United India Insurance, New India Assurance and National Insurance Company. A majority of the risk has been reinsured with the General Insurance Corporation of India (GIC Re). Any insurance policy of more than Rs 25 crore is ceded or transferred to GIC Re, the designated reinsurer in the country. In September, Tendulkar and his family moved into the new house built in Bandra West’s Perry Cross Road area for around Rs 80 crore. “The structure is actually spread across five floors as one and a half are underground, designed keeping in mind Sachin’s love for cars. The second basement can hold 45-50 cars at a time,” said another source familiar with the policy. “However, this policy excludes his cars, as there are already separate policies for them,” he added. With a cover of Rs 44 crore, Tendulkar was the highest insured cricketer in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). He is the captain of Mukesh Ambani’s Mumbai Indians. In the previous edition of IPL, Tendulkar was given a personal accident cover worth Rs 12 crore.

Film personalities, industrialists and sportspersons are known to purchase high-value insurance covers. Though official figures are not available due to confidentiality norms, reports indicate Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan has a cover of nearly Rs 110 crore for his house, ‘Mannat’, in Bandra. India’s richest man, Mukesh Ambani, had taken an insurance cover worth more than Rs 150 crore for his house, Antilla, on Mumbai’s Altamount Road.