Insuring the Final Frontier: How Astronauts Manage Risk Beyond Earth
By Bill Hoyt
Space travel is exhilarating, groundbreaking, and—let’s be honest—a logistical nightmare for insurance companies. While astronauts boldly go where no desk-bound insurance agent has gone before, actuaries sit back and sweat over the sheer number of things that could go catastrophically wrong. Explosive rocket launches? Check. Floating into the void? Check. Getting hit by space debris at 17,500 mph? Also check.
Astronauts have long struggled with life insurance, mostly because traditional policies balk at covering missions involving near-certain peril. When Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins prepared for Apollo 11, they faced astronomical insurance premiums—so high that purchasing a policy was impractical. So instead, they devised a clever workaround: signing hundreds of postal covers, which their families could sell if tragedy struck The idea? If they didn’t return, their families could sell them for a hefty price. Certainly unsettling, but it did the trick to ensure financial security without an official policy.
It’s an unfortunate truth that rockets explode. Which is why space agencies and private companies purchase specialized insurance covering launch failures, satellite malfunctions, and accidental deep-space abandonment. Lloyd’s of London famously insured the Intelsat 507 satellite, paying out millions when a rocket failure left it floating uselessly in orbit. SpaceX, Blue Origin, and other players now rely on comprehensive policies—because if you’re going to toss a multi-billion-dollar piece of machinery into the sky, you might as well have a safety net.
Despite being one of the most expensive structures ever built, the International Space Station (ISS) lacks a traditional insurance policy. The cost of insuring it would be astronomical—so instead, NASA and its partners assume the risk themselves. However, liability insurance does exist to protect against potential lawsuits if ISS debris causes damage on Earth—for situations like “a piece of ISS crashes into someone’s house” (which would make for an incredible home insurance claim).
Astronauts undergo rigorous training, but space travel still poses serious health risks. Microgravity weakens bones, radiation exposure increases cancer risks, and space debris could turn a routine mission into a disaster. While government-employed astronauts typically receive coverage through their agencies, private space travelers—like those flying with SpaceX—must secure their own policies. My prediction: Expect to see more tailored insurance plans for space tourists as commercial spaceflight expands.
As humanity pushes further into space, and as travel becomes more accessible to the average citizen, insurance will almost certainly evolve to meet new challenges. Will future policies cover asteroid mining accidents? Lunar colony disputes? Mars rover collisions? “Oops, my spaceship broke down on an asteroid”? Probably. After all, exploration may be risky, but from our perspective at the Hoyt Insurance Agency, with the right coverage, the future of space is looking bright.
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Small Print, Big Consequences: When ‘Good Enough’ Isn’t
By Bill Hoyt
If you’ve ever dusted off your homeowners insurance policy and flipped through the fine print, you might’ve discovered something unexpected: it knows a lot about you. Maybe not your favorite takeout order, but your coverage quietly reflects the rhythms of your life—your home, your work, your concerns, and your joys.
That “floater endorsement” for your grandmother’s opal brooch? That’s a love story wrapped in legalese. The “loss-of-use” clause in your renters policy? That’s a warm shower and a hotel bed after your pipe froze in February.
Insurance is one of the only things we buy hoping we’ll never have to use. But when the time comes, it becomes the difference between disruption and devastation. That’s why trimming your policy down to the bare minimum just to save a few bucks can be a costly misstep.
We’ve seen it happen: the roof leaks, but mold remediation isn’t covered. The toilet backs up but you discover the insurance industry differentiates coverage between water in your supply lines (that’s supposed to be in the home) and brown water (which is not supposed to be there) and therefore may not be covered in a standard policy.. Or worse—you suffer flood damage and learn, too late, that flood coverage was never included in your policy to begin with.
It’s tempting to treat insurance like a commodity: all policies look the same until you dig beneath the surface. But a good agent doesn’t just quote prices. A good agent asks about your life: who lives in your home, what keeps you up at night, what you’d grieve if it disappeared.
We don’t often think of insurance as a window into who we are—but maybe we should. Our coverage reveals what we value and what we can’t afford to lose. Cheap insurance might make sense at the moment and sound good when you’re shopping, but when the unexpected happens (and it will), it’s the overlooked endorsements and well-chosen limits that make all the difference.
The truth is, the strongest policies aren’t necessarily the most expensive—they’re the most thoughtful. They’re built with someone who takes the time to ask, “What matters to you, and what would it take to protect it?”
So next time you sit down and look at your policy, don’t just ask what can be removed. Ask what shouldn’t be left out. Because when the storm rolls in—literal or figurative—you’ll be glad someone helped you pack an umbrella you didn’t even know you’d need.
At our agency, we believe in smart, personalized protection—not cheap shortcuts that shave too deeply. If it matters to you, it matters to us. And that is what your agent should be doing.
Bill Hoyt is the agency owner at Hoyt Insurance in Lebanon (and when customers take the time to connect, he makes sure it’s time well spent.)
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Dwight Schrute vs. Werewolves: Is That Really Insurable?
By Bill Hoyt
Fans of The Office will remember the delightfully bizarre moment when Dwight Schrute claimed he hunts werewolves (one which, by the time he reached it, turned back into his neighbor’s dog). As strange as it sounds, Dwight isn’t entirely alone—throughout history, people have not only believed in werewolves, but some have even taken out insurance policies for pretty unusual—and sometimes otherworldly—requests.
It begs the question: Can Dwight, or you, really buy werewolf insurance? The short answer is: no. But, kind of. The long answer reveals a lot about how the insurance world works—and how it sometimes bends to novelty.
Let’s start with the basics. Insurance is fundamentally about risk management. When you buy a policy, you’re transferring the financial risk of a possible event—from your car getting dinged in a parking lot to your home being damaged in a storm—to a company that agrees to cover it, in exchange for a premium.
But what happens when the risk is fictional?
In the real world, novelty policies have been written to cover everything from alien abduction to zombie apocalypse. Some Lloyd’s of London underwriters have reportedly sold policies for ghost hauntings, multiple births, and even—yes—werewolf attacks. These policies aren’t typically underwritten based on actuarial science or statistical data (because how do you measure the likelihood of a full-moon-related mauling?). They’re usually more about publicity or peace of mind—like an expensive joke, with legal paperwork.
So, while a werewolf policy may sound absurd, it isn’t entirely fictional. You could, theoretically, approach a specialty insurer willing to draw up an unusual risk policy, though you’d likely pay a hefty premium and need to find someone eccentric enough to underwrite it.
The closest real-world equivalent would be “event insurance” or “contingency insurance”, which covers highly specific, low-probability (but possible) events. Examples include:
- A weather insurance policy for an outdoor wedding,
- A prize indemnity policy for a hole-in-one golf tournament,
- Or a policy for a celebrity’s legs, voice, or even mustache (yes, that’s been done too).
What this fun example highlights—beyond the laughs—is that insurance is about protecting what matters to you, no matter how peculiar. For most of us, and certainly us at the Hoyt Insurance Agency, that means homes, cars, and lives. But it can also mean small businesses, classic tractors, beloved pets, or even an oddly specific scenario that gives you peace of mind.
Just maybe skip the silver bullets clause.
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The (Surprisingly Interesting) History of Insurance
By Bill Hoyt
Most of us don’t think twice about insuring our homes and cars. It’s part of life—like paying taxes or winterizing the pipes. But have you ever wondered how insurance became such a fundamental part of modern living?
The concept of home insurance as we know it dates back to the Great Fire of London in 1666, which destroyed more than 13,000 houses. In the wake of the devastation, Nicholas Barbon, a London entrepreneur, established the first fire insurance company. His idea was simple but revolutionary: homeowners could pool their resources to protect against catastrophic loss.
Fast forward to colonial America, where Benjamin Franklin helped form the first American fire insurance company in 1752—the Philadelphia Contributionship. They not only insured buildings but also promoted fire safety by inspecting properties and refusing coverage to those with unsafe practices.
In the 20th century, fire insurance grew into full-fledged homeowners insurance, covering not just fire but theft, liability, storms, and more. The modern homeowner’s policy emerged in the 1950s as a way to bundle various protections into one easy-to-manage plan.
Today, homeowners insurance has evolved to meet new challenges—from wildfires and floods to cyber threats and smart home coverage. Yet the core principle remains: helping families recover when disaster strikes.
Auto insurance, meanwhile, took off with the rise of the automobile. In 1897, the world’s first car insurance policy was sold in Dayton, Ohio, to Dr. Truman Martin. It covered liabilities in case his car caused damage or injury—a real concern as cars began sharing roads with pedestrians and horse-drawn carriages.
As cars became faster and more common, states began requiring drivers to carry insurance. Massachusetts led the way in 1927, becoming the first state to make auto liability insurance mandatory.
From basic coverage to today’s comprehensive plans—including roadside assistance, gap coverage, and protection against uninsured drivers—auto insurance has kept pace with a rapidly changing world on wheels.
Insurance is more than a legal requirement or a financial safety net. It’s a tool that helps communities rebuild after disaster, offers peace of mind, and ensures that one bad day doesn’t lead to lasting hardship.
Here in New Hampshire, we know that life can be unpredictable—whether it’s a snowstorm, a fender bender, or a tree branch that doesn’t quite miss the roof. That’s why local insurance agencies continue to play a vital role: helping neighbors protect what matters most.
So the next time you glance at your policy or get a quote, remember—you’re taking part in a centuries-old tradition of people coming together to take care of one another. And that’s something we at the Hoyt Insurance Agency think is worth being proud of.