I think that many of us assume that celebrities have much easier lives than the typical person. The gossip magazines and websites have a tendency to point out how much money a certain famous actor or actress has, or how much they spend. You might think that having this much money protects a person from quite a bit of the risks that life can bring, but this is not always true. Even a celebrity can have problems with their insurance companies.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson, one of the most famous Hollywood couples, are suing their former insurance agency. Tom Hanks has been in tons of popular movies, including: “Forrest Gump”, “The Green Mile”, and “Cast Away”, and “Big” to name but a few. Rita Wilson has had roles in several different televisions shows, like M*A*S*H, Happy Days, Three’s Company, and Moonlighting. This power couple has been involved with movies and television for quite some time now, and I cannot ever remember reading a press release, news article, or celebrity gossip website that had one negative word to say about either of them. They seem to be good people.
Unfortunately, even good people, who are famous, can get taken advantage of by someone that they put their trust in. They were working with J.B. Goldman Insurance Agency for over twenty years, and had purchased homeowners insurance, directors insurance, and other insurance policies that would protect their business from risk. For whatever reason, Mr. Hanks and Ms. Wilson decided to switch insurance companies last month, to a different one.
Their new insurance agent discovered that the agent from J.B. Goldman Insurance Agency was overcharging them. They lawsuit that was filed by Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson states that J.B. Goldman Insurance overcharged them, charged them multiple times for the same thing, and basically was engaging in a “predatory embezzlement scheme”. It is estimated that this cost the Hollywood couple hundreds of thousands of dollars, and may have even cost them millions of dollars. They are seeking an unspecified amount of damages.
It’s easy to see how something like this could happen, though, because most people don’t have a very clear understanding about what their insurance covers, or what, exactly, their premiums should be. News like this doesn’t necessarily mean that your insurance company is going to behave as badly as the agent from J.P. Goldman Insurance Agency did. If you have concerns, then take the time to read over your policies, and don’t be afraid to ask questions if you have any.
Image by Kristin Dos Santos on Flickr