Imagine organizing the most important event of your life, possibly one that can launch your career. Or imagine you are managing one of the most significant events of someone’s life, a wedding, a birthday, business launch, etc., and something goes wrong. You can never really be prepared when it comes to unprecedented situations on such occasions.
However, you can secure yourself with event insurance in the event of liability or accidents that can arise on such occasions. Getting yourself event insurance would mean getting yourself and your client protection and security.
There is always risk and liabilities involved in events, be it a wedding, birthday party, business convention, book launch, or any other event that consists of a gathering of people. The liability of the event is dependent on the number of people. To keep your events protected and secure from liabilities and lawsuits, you need to get your events insured.
The insurance industry is one of the biggest industries. According to Insurance Information Institute, in 2020, the net premiums grossing of the insurance was $1.28 trillion. There are around 6000 insurance companies in the US for the year 2019. The insurance industry has pervasively entered our personal as well as business spaces.
What is event insurance?
Event insurance can be understood as comprehensive coverage against financial losses and general liability that can be incurred in an event. There are different types of insurance for events that are available to buy according to the need of the organizer or the investor. Some insurances for events cover general liability, and some cover specific areas.
Event insurances are like safety measures by organizers, planners, and investors to protect their investments from liabilities and losses. Just as you have insurance for your health, car, house, etc., you get insurance for your events.
Why do you need event insurance?
As an event planner, you can take care of the predictable outcome when you organize an event. However, there are always unpredictable variables involved when organizing an event. Getting event insurance takes care of such unpredictable variables.
For example, you are organizing your client’s wedding party at a venue. One of the bride’s maids had slipped while dancing on the dancefloor. She has a broken hip with a dislocated ankle. Unfortunately, she becomes a liability to you, as she plans to file a lawsuit against the event planner because the dancefloor was slippery and has caused a health hazard. This is where and why you need to get event insurance for an event.
If you have purchased insurance for the event, the insurance company will take care of the given event liability in such likely scenarios. It will take care of the medical bills and pay for the possible lawsuit that the bridesmaid had filed.
Event insurance covers you from all such possible event liabilities that can cost you, your business, and your client. Besides, the process of organizing an event is stressful enough. Instead of stressing about the unpredictable, get your event insured and plan events stress-free.
Coverage of event insurances
There are event insurances that cover specific areas and some that give coverage over general liability. Here is a general list of some of the areas covered by event insurance policies when you purchase one.
- Public liability insurance
- Special events insurances
- Public or third party damage insurance
- Employers and workers liability insurance
- Worker’s compensation insurances
How do the event insurances work?
In the event of an accident in at or during an event, event insurance offers the safety of financial loss and liability. Depending on the events, different kinds of accidents can happen. Here are some of the most common situations wherein insurance cover the losses and liabilities.
- Cancellation insurance – the cancellation of events is one of the common scenarios while organizing an event. Let us take the example of Harry Style’s concert being cancelled due to weather problems. Concert cancellation in the event of weather issues can be covered under the insurance for events that you have purchased.
Weather-related insurances are the most common and costliest insurance loss cases.
- Liability insurance – event liability insurance covers your general liability that can arise in an event. Any incident related to the party like an accident, damage of property or product, etc. Occasions are open to such risks, which is why you need liability insurance for an event to cover any expense that arises.
- Alcohol-related accident insurances – weddings, birthday bash, or even a business event, when it is alcohol-involved, event planners need to purchase event insurances that include liquor liability coverage. The event insurance covers any bodily harm or accidents that arise out of alcohol-related issues.
- Vendor insurances – you had a last-minute cancellation by your cake vendor at a kid’s birthday party. And in the process had to order a cake from a different vendor that cost you extra charges. The event insurance you have purchased covers additional charges incurred due to higher new last-minute vendors change. In case of damage of vendor products to the insurance takes care of the loss and the liability.
- Third-party damage insurances – third-party damage occurs when you have the public or individual not related to the event get injured due to the event. For example, you are having a party, and there is broken glass that has been disposed of irresponsibly. A passerby gets injured due to the irresponsible disposal of the glass can cause medical emergencies and even a possible legal case. Event insurances cover such third-party claims.
How does event insurance benefit you?
Event insurance works on the principle of preparing for the worst possible scenario while having your insurance covering all bases. Events involve people; the larger the people involved, the greater the risk and the greater the stress.
Having event insurance can benefit you by easing up your event planning process and stress by guaranteeing liability coverage for you and your client. This will help you save from thousands to millions of dollars in a lawsuit, claims, and bills, the cost of which otherwise would have been borne by you.
Who is covered in event insurance?
When you purchase special event insurance, one of the most important aspects is to align who or which the insurance covers parties. Parties or individuals involved need to be specified in the insurance package. Event planners, the public, third-party, the client, and the services providers involved in the event, etc., are covered in the insurance.
You can always design and choose who is covered under the event insurance as per your business requirement.
What is covered in the event insurance?
Make sure of what insurances are offered in the insurance package before you purchase one. Event insurance, for example, should include event planner insurance, event management insurance, event planning insurance, event management public liability insurance, etc.
Why do you need insurance for event planners, and how much is an event planner insurance?
Event planner insurance is a protection for you and your business. Ensure you have event planner insurance coverage in the event insurance to protect you from liabilities related to the event. If an injury or claim happened because of neglect, the event planner insurance would cover such claims.
Your event planner insurance cost is contingent on the risk involved, the number of employees involved, the location, and the type of event. While these insurances act like a defence for your event to run smoothly, they can cost you too. An average event planner insurance coverage can cost $500 to $1,100 in a year, although this can change according to the organized events.
Does the event insurance cover the employee?
Event insurance covers the employees involved if the event planner has purchased one that includes such coverage. This can consist of staff from the kitchen, catering, security, or other employees involved.
Suppose the chef hired for the event had an accidental fall on the kitchen while working for the event. In that case, the event insurance will cover all the liabilities and medical services provided.
Public liability for events- can the public be a liability?
The answer is yes. Event liability is not just related to you or your client involved; it can be connected to the public, too, for which you need public liability insurance.
Public liability insurance provides coverage against costs incurred by the public in the case of injury or death due to or at the event organized. This can happen, especially if the event you have organized is held around public areas. So if you are organizing an event where there is a possibility of having the public around, get yourself public liability insurance.
What is event insurance fee, and how much is event insurance cost?
Event insurance cost or fee is the amount you pay the insurance company to provide coverage for your event if there is an accident, cancellation, or other liability of the event.
Your event insurance fee will differ according to the insurance coverage, the duration of the event, and the risk involved in the event. On average, your special event insurance can cost anywhere from $100–$200 per day, and for 2-10 days, it can cost up to $250.
How much does an event liability insurance cost?
Event liability insurance costs can depend on the number of people involved, the size of your business, and the number of days involved. Small businesses can, on average, spend $300 per year; most small businesses do spend anywhere between $300 – $600 per year on general liability insurance.
For a benefit event involving 500 people with food, beverage as well as entertainment it can cost you $400 – $600 liability insurance cost. Such priced liability insurance can cover up to 1 million as a liability policy.
Getting event insurance on a budget
Getting your event insurance is essential but getting it at a reasonable rate is smart. Just because you pay a hefty amount for insurance doesn’t mean you are getting the best insurance coverage service. Make a price comparison of the insurance provider with the number of areas the insurance they cover.
If you are unsure of the event insurance policy and cost, you can always take the help of professionals and insurants experts for the best advice.
What do you need to cautions when you buy event insurance?
Not all event insurances offer the desired coverage to your events. As mentioned above, different events anticipate different scenarios and, as such, require different sets of coverage. The insurance coverage depends on the type of events organized.
Most policies offer almost the same coverage with just one or two extra or different coverage. Make sure when you purchase insurance, you have your most important and interest areas covered. Coverage like general liability, public liability, event planner insurance coverage as well as liability, etc.
Read your insurance policies thoroughly so that you can get the maximum benefit of the insurance. The event insurance policy may include certain technical loopholes which might cost you in case there is an accident which the company fails to cover. To save you from these scenarios, read the terms and conditions of the insurance offered. If needed, get help from professionals.
The right event insurance provider
Some insurance providers are reliable, and some are not. Some might cost you more as they might try to avoid paying for the accident or cancellations.
Getting yourself event insurance, especially in times of the pandemic, could be the best possible decision you have made for your business. With covid fluctuating situation, event cancellation and health insurances are a sure thing.
Conclusion
While doing any business or event, there are risks involved. Having a safety net like event insurance can help you take risks as well as make sure your interests are protected. Indeed these safety nets don’t come cheap and can cost you much, especially if you are a small business owner. However, a safety net that provides your security and flexibility at your work is worth spending your money on.
There are several event insurances available in the market; however, make sure you choose the one that gives you the most coverage. They say to err is human, but getting yourself event insurance is being smart and secured.