The Rolling Stones are fighting for £7.9 million (AU$14.5 million) in insurance, to retrieve losses caused by the postponement of their Australian and New Zealand 14 On Fire tour. The group’s antipodean concerts where postponed in March, following the death of L’Wren Scott, the girlfriend of Stones frontman Mick Jagger.
The BBC have reported that The Rolling Stones had an insurance policy in place which allowed them to be paid if shows were cancelled due to the death of family members or partners, including Scott. The band’s 12 underwriters are denying that Scott was covered, claiming she may have suffered from a pre-existing mental illness which would make the group’s policy invalid.
The Telegraph have noted that court documents from The Rolling Stones’ insurance claim reveal that Mick Jagger was diagnosed with acute traumatic stress disorder following Scott’s death.
A doctor told Jagger not to perform for a month, and the subsequent tour postponement was earlier estimated to have cost the band and its management $10 million. The Stones’ insurers, though, say that Jagger wasn’t examined before being diagnosed.
The underwriters also claim that because Scott’s death was a suicide, they don’t have to pay the £7.9 million the band are requesting from the £17 million policy.
The 12 insurers will now seek evidence in the US city of Utah, where Scott was raised. They will be looking for information regarding her mental health, and will acquire documents and testimony from Scott’s brother, Randall Bambrough.
The Rolling Stones’ rescheduled 2014 Australian tour began in late October, and will wrap up in Brisbane on 18th November after heading to Sydney and the Hunter Valley. The band cancelled their performance at Victoria’s Hanging Rock on Friday, 7th November, as Jagger was suffering from a throat infection. The band have confirmed that their next scheduled show in Sydney will go ahead.
