James Bond – uninsurable so definitely licensed to kill

Despite having a license to thrill, a check by leading car insurer, Zurich, has shown that it’s highly unlikely that James Bond would ever be insured to drive in the UK.

So, with Casino Royale hitting the big screen this week, perhaps we should be looking at Bond going for a black cab rather than an Aston Martin for his next film.

A 40-year-old, Aston Martin DB7-driving ‘civil servant’, based in London with advanced driver training, could secure Zurich insurance but with an increasing premium depending on claims history. With Bond’s lengthy car chases and numerous crashes, he would have real trouble finding a legal way to do get his job done. In the “World is Not Enough”, he wrote off 3 cars in the space of four days – effectively making him uninsurable.

Keith Lewis, a spokesman for Zurich said, ‘Bond wouldn’t be Bond without the shaken not stirred approach, but in the real world, it would cost thousands to insure with just one previous claim. With three write-offs, he would be selling diamonds forever to pay for it. If 007 drove a bit more carefully in the future, Zurich would happily look at covering him, but with his track record, it’s probably best to get Miss Moneypenny to take him to the Casino Royale.’