Considering all these risks, how much would it really cost to insure Downton Abbey?
The ERIE experts say that it would cost somewhere in the neighborhood of $10 million annually.
Most of the premium is driven by the homeowners insurance. “I ran Downton Abbey through our underwriting program,” says McConnell. “While we do have an option for high-value dwellings, this kind of home goes well beyond that. So I basically put the home on steroids and gave it a value of $120 million. Even that is probably low for the home.”
Workers’ comp, meanwhile, adds even more to that total. “This is a very unique situation in which the home functions much like a hotel,” says Bauer. “I estimate that it would cost approximately $26,000 a year to provide workers’ comp insurance for Downton Abbey’s domestic workers.”
In reality, many kinds of insurance professionals would need to visit Downton Abbey in order to come up with an accurate premium. It is highly unlikely any one company would want to insure such a big risk. Instead, a company like Lloyd’s of London would handle it. Lloyd’s is a group whose members join together to insure parts of risks. The company is famous for insuring movie star Betty Grable’s legs, Rolling Stones guitarist Keith Richards’ hands and other unusual risks.
In the case of Downton Abbey, the members would divvy up Downton Abbey’s risk so that each member only insures a small part of the total risk (like one percent). This way, no one member would be totally responsible for paying many millions of dollars if Downton Abbey suffered a major loss.
Like the Crawleys, most of us need homeowners insurance or renters insurance. (Thankfully, most of us don’t need the bank account of an English earl to pay for it!)
Whether your home is palatial or modest, you’ll want to protect it with the right homeowners insurance. Talk to an Erie Insurance Agent in your community to learn more and get a free quote.
Read the full story from Erie Insurance: "Downton Abbey: The Final Verdict"
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