Whilst it has been some 12 years since I last adjusted a claim of this nature, and I will admit to not being particularly well versed on US law as regards the use of narcotics (not much call to stay up to speed when working as a headhunter...), one can understand that if smoking marijuana and subsequent mental instability was a potential cause for the cancellation of the tour it needs to be examined fully. 

There are lots of potential discussion points that arise from this story, but the one I would focus on (and I know I've commented on this regularly in the past), is that of the image of the insurance sector. Despite what Intermediaries and Risk Carriers might tell themselves and each other, the reality is that people/customers believe that the default position of the insurance sector is to try and not pay claims. Sadly this is often reinforced by the actions of the industry in what are usually times of significant distress and emotional anguish for the insured.

The response from Lloyd's is: 'we meet our obligations...' Perhaps a better position would be: 'let's work together to get this sorted...'

When the insurance sector is so poorly regarded, does it not make sense to get to a position of understanding with one of the world's most visible (and vocal) music acts quickly in this situation? 

I would argue that we should never have heard about this - the Client should have been engaged with fully (as all Insureds should) the moment they made a claim, to ensure that they had a clear understanding of what was going to happen, potential timescales, etc... Perhaps then they wouldn't feel they need to resort to litigation.

This is not finger pointing at the particular carrier, I believe this is an issue the whole market has to address.