20 Nov Rolling Stones insurance gripes

Legendary rockers the Rolling Stones took on their insurers for rejecting a claim for cancelled tours following the suicide of Mick Jagger’s girlfriend, model and designer L’Wren Scott. Court filings said that the insurers had rejected a nearly $12.7m claim filed by the band for calling off a tour of Australia and New Zealand. The band had claimed $12 689 833 under an insurance policy that covered cancellation of a tour due to the “sudden and unforeseen” deaths of band members’ loved ones (including Scott, who had been dating Jagger since 2001). Doctors had diagnosed Jagger with “acute traumatic stress disorder” and instructed him “not to perform for at least 30 days”. Apparently the underwriters denied payment because Scott’s suicide “was an intentional act and not a sudden and unforeseen event beyond her control”. A spokesperson for Jagger said that the Rolling Stones “had, in fact, settled the insurance claim” between the time that the court papers were filed and when it was first reported by a local newspaper.