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The right kind of cover

Brian Kirsch asks: does your event insurance do what you think it does?

In this era of on-line quotes and price comparison websites, it is easy to assume that one insurance is much the same as another, so the only difference is the price. Price comparison sites have not yet invaded the event insurance market, although if they did they would find it impossible to properly analyse the diverse range on offer.
Event insurance is a complex product, and every event is different, so it is vital to ensure that you not only get a good price, but also that you are getting the right cover. There are a few simple rules for making comparisons.
The first is ‘Are you dealing with an experienced specialist insurer or broker?’ In recent years, there has been something of an explosion of offers from new entrants, not all of whom are wholly committed to the events market. So, check their experience and the underwriters they use; require them to have a thorough understanding of events and insurance. Check their qualifications, too. Just because someone says they are an expert, doesn’t mean they are.
Secondly, if you get alternative quotations, read them carefully. Don’t assume that anything is covered unless the policy actually says so. There are insurance products on the market which fall well short of comprehensive cover. For example, one well known insurer actually excludes ‘riot’ from their cancellation insurance, so if you were to take their event insurance for an event in London on the day of a political demonstration which turned into a riot, you would not be covered. Terrorism is frequently excluded unless you ask for it to be covered and some insurers won’t cover this risk at all. Amazingly, another excludes any orders or restrictions imposed by local authorities like the police, fire or ambulance services. They would not cover a situation where the police or fire authorities close off a venue because of an incident, such as a serious accident or chemical spillage, in the locality. These risks may seem obscure, but the whole point of event insurance is to cover the unexpected, and it is often the least expected which can cause a problem.
Also, beware of insurance which limits cover to cancellation of the whole event, because this means there is no cover for an event which is curtailed (for example reduced in size by damage to part of the venue) or abandoned half way through. Under an insurance with this limitation, there is effectively no cover once the event has opened.

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