Event Insurance

Event Insurance - Compare Cheap Quotes

The UK’s events industry is worth more than £30 billion a year, according to government data, but if you’re a self-employed event organiser or you own your own small events business your own share of that revenue could be seriously undermined if someone was injured at an event and you were held liable for the accident.

That’s why many sole traders and small businesses in the events industry decide to invest in events insurance, which can protect their bottom lines from the risk of possible legal fees and compensation pay-outs if they ever face a liability claim.

What does event liability insurance insure me against?

As the name suggests, public liability insurance for events insures you against the risk of a liability claim by a member of the public.

So, for example, if a guest is injured at one of your events and it is alleged that the accident occurred due to some sort of negligence on your part, this type of event liability insurance can help to cover the costs your business might otherwise have to pay itself, such as the cost of hiring a solicitor, court costs and any compensation the court decides to award to the claimant.

And even if no one was injured but a member of the public’s property was damaged, public liability insurance for events could help your business with the financial burden if that person sued you for damages as well.

Is this the same as ‘event organiser insurance’?

Yes, it’s basically the same thing. Event organiser insurance protects event organisers from the risk of liability claims, and as such it is essentially another name for public liability insurance for events.

Is events insurance a legal requirement?

No, as with all public liability insurance policies, this type of insurance isn’t required by law. However, if you hire venues for your events you will almost always find that those venues do require you to have events insurance in place before your event is due to start.

The reason venues impose that requirement is that there’s a risk they might be held liable themselves if someone was injured, so they will usually have one clause that requires the event organiser to accept that liability in full, and a second clause that requires the event organiser to have event liability insurance in place to offset that liability.

While large event venues like conference centres and exhibition centres will always require events companies to have their own public liability insurance for events, it’s important to bear in mind that even many smaller venues (eg church halls, town halls, pubs and restaurant) will have these clauses in place, so it’s a good idea to take out event liability insurance no matter where you plan to host your event.

If I’m providing catering at my event does this type of insurance cover me against the risk of food poisoning?

The ‘public liability’ component of your event insurance policy probably won’t cover you against the risk of food poisoning, but it is possible to bundle add-ons with the best events insurance policies to ensure you are covered for this.

The appropriate add-on to add to your policy in this case would be product liability insurance, which insures your business against liability claims resulting from faulty products - in this case, spoiled or incorrectly cooked food.

Does event liability insurance cover mobile catering businesses too?

Yes, if your business is a mobile caterer that provides catering services for events then you can take out catering liability insurance to protect you against the risk of a liability claim in those situations too.

Whether you’re a wedding caterer, a party caterer, a corporate caterer or a food truck business, catering liability insurance can cover you against the risk of liability claims if someone is injured at an event or gathering and you’re held liable for the incident.

How much does events insurance cost?

Many different variables can influence the premium for event insurance, so it’s difficult to predict how much an event organiser might be quoted for event liability insurance without comparing real quotes.

For instance, where your event will take place, what type of event it will be, how many people are expected to attend, whether or not you’ll be providing food at the event, the level of coverage you’d like to take out, whether or not you’ve claimed on a public liability insurance policy in the past and whether or not you’d like to bundle other types of cover into your event insurance policy will all affect the premiums you’re quoted.

The best plan is to use Quotezone.co.uk’s event insurance comparison service to compare quotes from a range of different providers, and then go with the one that offers the best policy at the most competitive price.