Insurance News Celebrity Status Drives The Cost Of Car Insurance Up For The Likes Of Jade Goody

Written by Editorial Team

23 November 2007 / by None

Being a celebrity isn’t all it’s cracked up to be, as being famous can really increase car insurance premiums, according to research by elephant.co.uk.

The car insurance comparison website has added ‘celebrity’ as an occupation on their car insurance form in order to reflect the growing number of people finding fame through reality television shows, such as X Factor and Big Brother, and by marrying people who are already famous, such as Wives and Girlfriends of footballers (WAGS).

Brian Martin, managing director of elephant.co.uk, said: “With so many celebrity wannabes gracing our TV screens in reality shows and more so-called celebrities appearing everyday, we couldn’t ignore that we may have customers who would be wrongly catergorised if listed as anything else. And, it’s not just reality TV stars but even the girlfriends and wives of footballers are now deemed celebrities in their own right.”

However, being famous isn’t all glitz and glamour when it comes to car insurance, as elephant.co.uk has found that they would have been better off staying in their old jobs to get more competitive cover.

Jade Goody, for example, pays 22 per cent more to insure her car now that she is a celebrity as opposed to a dental nurse. Big Brother winner Brian Belo has to pay 40 per cent more in car insurance premiums that when he was a date entry clerk.

Mr Martin continued: “It’s seems more and more people dream of being famous and aspire to the celebrity lifestyle. We just wanted to point out that being famous does also have its downsides and often there’s a price to pay for such fame. Celebrities have to pay more for things like insurance just because they are famous.

“In reality, the premiums these celebrities could end up paying would probably be higher still. One of the reasons famous people are charged higher premiums is due to the risk of them having other celebrities in the car and the huge costs that were be incurred should there be an accident. Alex Curran could expect her premiums to rise considerably due to the likelihood of her husband Steven Gerrard being a passenger. So if you do become a celebrity it makes more financial sense to stay with your unknown partner!”

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