Have you ever thought about how you'd manage if you lost your sight and your hands? No, nor had we until a scaremongering press release landed in the office.

'Do you use computers?' It asked. Well then you need Milo - the eyes and hands policy. It offers £150,000 payable on losing an eye, hand, both eyes, both hands, and presumably any combination of the four. The annual premium is £25.

The marketing bumf also says 'There is much talk of a "New Underclass" of those without IT skills' - which implies that's what you'll be joining if you're maimed and don't have your lump sum coming. So even turning up for work doesn't protect you from the kind of miserable, leech-like, ambulance chasing advertising that is usually the domain of day time television.

This is an extract from the Milo website's FAQ section: (The spelling mistakes aren't down to The Register - for a change.)

Do people using computers, or other visual/touch equipment, ever have a claim like this? Isn't it a remote risk, honestly?
Accidents do happen, and whatever the risk, the results would be a disater. In the past (and indeed today - as the newspapers often report) famous entertainers and performers have made sure their huge incomes are covered by this sort of policy.
... and we're all performers now! Arn't we?
£150,000 to a computer operator will be just as much a godsend as £7,000,000 to a pop star.
They do it, because they are only too aware of the risk of not doing it.

If you get throat cancer your chances of using voice recognition are shagged as well, but the policy, from Harrison-Beaumont (Insurance Brokers) doesn't mention that. The policy is called Milo as reference to the 'armless and apparently visually-under-privileged Venus De Milo'.

Ah, but wait. Here's something else on the FAQ.

Can I 'spread the gospel' by recommending MILO widely and earn a commission?
If you have access to media which could promote MILO we would like to hear from you. (This, after all, is the way our founder began in student insurance 50 years ago!)

Well just tell them The Reg sent you. ®

Related Link

The Milo policy