Prestidigitation

How can you not love the protections of a quasi-govt. job? Bean counters tucked away somewhere in the bowels of UC Berkeley came across some particularly useful information for those of us putting our digits on the line for the cause of higher education. Summary:

Try not to lose the “thumb and index finger of the same hand.” You would only be entitled to 1/4 the principal sum of your traveler’s insurance. Losing four toes, on the other hand, gets you 1/2 the sum,but only if you lose those toes “through or above the metatarsophalangeal joints.”

Table of losses / payments broken down by number of digits on involved hands or feet follows.

TABLE OF LOSSES
Life — The Principal Sum
Two or more members — The Principal Sum
Speech and hearing — The Principal Sum
One member — One half the Principal Sum
Four fingers of the same hand — One half the Principal Sum
Four toes of the same foot — One half the Principal Sum
Speech or hearing — One half the Principal Sum
Thumb and index finger of the same hand — One quarter the Principal Sum

“Member” means hand, foot, or eye. “Loss” means, with regard to hand or foot, actual severance through or above the wrist or ankle joints; with regard to eye, entire and irrecoverable loss of sight; with regard to thumb and index finger, actual severance through or above metacarpophalangeal joints; with regard to speech, entire and irrecoverable loss of speech; with regard to hearing, entire and irrecoverable loss of hearing in both ears. “Loss of four fingers of the same hand” means loss by actual severance through or above the metacarpophalangeal joints. “Loss of four toes of the same foot” means loss by actual severance through or above the metatarsophalangeal joints.

The total amount payable for one accident regardless of the number of eligible individuals involved is $4,000,000.