"There’s no one with endurance like the man who sells insurance. He’s everybody’s best friend." That’s the opening line from a song written in the Twenties. We don’t know if it was a hit. The Excess & Special Risks Department is not only involved with many phases of show business, it also has its hits and flops.

This is the story of one of the flops.

The E&SR Department was frequently asked to write Hole-in-One insurance. Whenever someone wanted to sponsor a golf tournament and give away a solid gold Cadillac or some other exotic prize, they first asked about getting insurance. The Company turned these down because it considered such policies to be gambling. If the sponsor’s giving of the prize is dependent upon getting insurance, there is never any possibility of a loss to him.

Then someone asked, "What about the ordinary player who gets a hole-in-one and is hit for a big bar tab? Isn’t that a loss to him?"

"That," said the E&SR man, "is a risk which it may be possible to insure. We shall look into it."

Then began some in-depth research involving the U.S. Golf Association (incidentally, one of our special coverage policyholders), sundry professionals, club secretaries, and local golf associations. The research indicated a vast army of prospects just waiting for such a policy.

The idea of coverage was simplicity itself. Marketing it was another matter. The price for the individual player had to be reasonable, yet enough to ensure claims could be paid. With a very small premium, policies could not be issued one at a time. The only way in which a group policy could be issued would be if each club agreed to be liable for the hole-in-one involvement of its members, thereby creating contractual liability. This could be insured under one policy written in the name of the club. The club could then collect the dues necessary to pay the special premium.

So much for the idea—then the trouble began.

Filings had to be made in every state. Most Insurance Departments readily approved the program and, in doing so, some showed surprising wit and urbanity. In a few jurisdictions the filing ran into all kinds of difficulty. The policy didn't mention paying for alcoholic beverages. As far as the underwriters were concerned, the celebration could be in Coke. Nevertheless, one state submitted the filing to its Alcoholic Beverage Control Board and it was rejected. Another Commissioner called a press conference to announce a full scale inquiry to protect the interests of the public and veiled references were made to possible discrimination because the coverage was applicable only to U.S.G.A. approved courses. In the face of such situations, the filing was withdrawn in those states.

Then came the practical difficulties in marketing. The golf clubs, on multiplying the number of players by $3.00, often came up with totals in excess of $1,000. No club secretary could visualize spending this amount of club funds—forgetting entirely the full $3.00 was to be collected from each member and that the club itself would not be out of pocket at all.

A vast publicity campaign, promises of handsome certificates for anyone performing the feat of a hole-in-one, and advertisements in leading golf magazines brought forth only a trickle of enquiries. By quirk of fate, most were from states where the filings were not approved. Quotations were made, but each one failed to sell because the bulb committee was not made to understand it cost the members only $3.00 each, but did not cost the club a red cent.

Other clubs felt their own pools were adequate. They overlooked the fact the pool did not apply if a member scored a hole-in-one away from his home club. Nor did they consider the levies were usually much more than the proposed premium of $3.00 a year.

At the end of the year, not one policy had been sold. It was the Edsel of the insurance business.

A few months ago, a contractor playing in a weekend tournament scored a hole-in-one on Saturday and another on Sunday. His total bar bill was over $500. We know he wished he had a Hole-in-One policy.

The Company still has the policy available, waiting for any club membership which wants to buy it.

Which brings us to the closing line of the song which opened this story. "There’s no one with endurance like the man who sells insurance, for he gets us all in the end."

[04-01-03-004-0087 Fireman’s Fund Archives]