Are you in a dilemma regarding whether or not to get event insurance? If you’re in the business of organising conferences, concerts or festivals to name a few, then having event insurance is in your best interests.
We get it; running a business is all about taking risks. But not having event insurance is a risk you don’t want to take. If you don’t have it, you risk putting a major dent in your company finances when faced with multiple claims as we’ll explain in the article.
When it comes to event insurance isn’t strict about it. However, authorities highly recommend that businesses have public insurance. Either that or you’re liable to pay all damages that happen during your event.
What is Event Insurance?
Event insurance basically covers claims made to your business by third parties as a result of property damage or bodily harm. And this insurance must always be purchased before the event occurs.
Why You Must Consider Event Insurance
Protect Your Business
Accidents happen. What happens if someone gets injured at your event? Chances are he or she will claim their hospital expenses from your company. If you don’t have event insurance, then unfortunately this money will come directly from your company coffers.
Claims can also be in the form of lawsuits which your company has to pay for. And it’s no secret how both medical bills and legal fees can be pretty costly to your company—especially if you’re a small business.
By having event insurance you’re basically protecting your business financially.
To Get Business
Just because the Australian government isn’t strict about businesses having event insurance, doesn’t mean you’re off the hook. Some stakeholders won’t get into business with you if you don’t have event insurance. Venue owners may refuse to rent out their space to you without giving them proof of liability insurance. Some sound system owners won’t hire their equipment to you. They’ll view your business as high risk in the event that any form of negligence occurs during the event.
Event Cancellation
In some cases, you may have to cancel the event because of unforeseen eventualities such as the weather or venue unavailability. When this happens, the venue owner may only pay you a portion of the fee as per the stipulated contract.
To protect your business in this scenario, you can apply for event cancellation insurance. Here the insurance company will refund you the remainder of the money to put your company back in its original financial position.
Event cancellation insurance will also refund you money that you would have used in the form of expenses as well as the possible profits you were expecting. That definitely sounds like an insurance cover worth having, don’t you agree?
In the case of a paid show, does this mean you have to refund each and every one of the patrons? That doesn’t have to be the case if you have event insurance.
It’s Inexpensive
Are you worried about paying high premiums for event insurance? Don’t. Contrary to public belief, event insurance is very affordable. Simply look for an insurance package that you can afford. The insurance package you pick will be dependent on the degree of protection that you want for your business.
It’s Widely Available
Much like car or life insurance, event insurance is widely available. Most insurance companies in Australia offer this service, so unavailability should never be an excuse.
Common Risks at Special Events
As mentioned earlier, accidents are bound to happen at any point during the event. This can include:
- A guest slipping or falling
- A fight breaking out resulting in injuries to patrons or damages to property
- The stage can collapse resulting in injuries to performers or guests
- An intoxicated guest coming from your event may be involved in an accident
- Your employee could cause accidental damage to your company property
All these factors will result in direct claims from your company.
Types of Event Insurance
Event insurance comes in two basic forms as we’ll discuss briefly below. Simply pick the one that’s in line with your company needs.
Public Liability Insurance
This type will protect your company from claims if someone gets injured at your event. In this case you’ll get a public liability insurance certificate from the insurance company that you must submit to the venue owner.
Employer’s Liability
As the name suggest, this type will cover claims from your employees or volunteers if they’re injured at the event. In some countries such as the UK, employer liability is a legal requirement that must cover all staff members.
Unconventional Types of Event Covers
There are few unusual event covers that certain companies can request, depending on the nature of the business. These include:
- Kidnap or ransom policy: If your event includes high profile individuals then you may want to consider getting kidnap or ransom cover just in case. Also, if you’re visiting certain high-risk areas in the world for your event then such a policy isn’t a bad idea.
- Cyber risk policy: Consider a cyber risk policy in case people decide to hack into your emails and start stealing money through phishing.
Final Words
When running a business, you certainly can’t leave things to chance. A smart business owner will take the necessary precautions to protect the company, employees and customers. Will you be taking out event insurance for your business? You certainly won’t regret it.