Open Air Business January 2018

FUNCTION VENUES
comprises four main cornerstones
that can be taken independently
of each other (in most cases), or
combined to suit your needs, to give
you the levels of cover that your
event, or the users of your function
venue, may need.
› Public Liability Insurance. The
foundation of any event insurance
policy. There are four main cover
levels ranging from £10m, down
through £5m and £2m to the
basic level of £1m of cover. Local
authorities and larger stately homes
are increasingly specifying that
clients take out £10m of cover and I
am seeing that trend spread out to
other venue types as well.
Premiums here can start from as
little as £60, but will depend on the
number of attendees at the event,
as well as the length of the event
itself.
› Employers Liability Insurance.
A legal essential for you to have in
place, yet so often an overlooked
level of cover. Employers liability is
potentially relevant if you have any
staff, volunteers or helpers working
or assisting you at the event. This
could range from stewards, catering
staff, ticket collectors or marshalls.
It doesn’t matter whether they are
paid or unpaid, but they must be
under your control and supervision
at the time they sustain an injury.
With cover starting from only
around £53 for up to £5m of cover
for up to 10 volunteers/employees,
this is frequently taken out in
conjunction with public liability.
› Event Equipment Cover.
This level of cover relates to items
that your client may be bringing
into, or hiring for, an event they
are holding at your venue. So this
excludes items which are already
part of the fixtures and fittings at
your venue. Our policy in particular
would provide accidental damage,
loss or theft cover for the event
equipment that your client is legally
responsible for, for the duration
of their event. This cover can start
from an additional premium as low
as £34.
› Cancellation Insurance. This
is a big one, and yet as an optional
cover many event organisers
choose not to add it to their policy.
Organising and hosting an event
can be costly, and this cover looks
to try and recover your costs if
the event you are organising or
attending was forced to cancel
ABOUT THE
AUTHOR
Kerry Leighton-
Bailey is the
marketing
director at Event
Insurance Services.
Established in 1996,
Event Insurance
Services provides
affordable, reliable
insurance, tailored
to fit the scale and
style of the occasion
– from school
fêtes and small
ceremonies to high
profile weddings
and events. The
team works with
companies and
individuals across
the full spectrum of
events, as well as
supporting a broker
network of over
2,500 brokers and
450 of the country’s
top venues and
hotels. www.eventsinsurance.co.uk
for reasons beyond your control.
There are also several extensions
to cancellation cover, which are
becoming increasingly common:
• Adverse weather cover: With
the unpredictability of the British
weather, and the increasing
number of outdoor events, this
is one of the most common
cancellation extensions
• Terrorism cover: Sadly, a sign
of the times. For an additional
premium, we can offer terrorism
cover for your event, limited to
threats and acts of terrorism
occurring within a specific
number of days and miles of
the event (usually 50 days and
50 miles). There is an option to
upgrade the cover to remove time
and distance restrictions
• Non-Appearance cover:
Designed for events which are
dependent upon a key individual
or a group of performers.
YOUR PREMIUM
The median spend on event
insurance last year was £2,500,
according to a recent Eventbrite
report. However, this figure has
been pushed up by the increase in
the number of very large events,
such as Glastonbury, which have
huge premiums.
Whatever the size of the event
you are organising, hosting or
attending, there are several ways
that you can look to reduce your
insurance premium. The key is
working with an insurance provider
or broker that fully understands the
needs of your event. By explaining
the policies and procedures you
have in place to help mitigate risk,
you will give the insurer confidence
that you are doing everything
possible to reduce the risk of having
to make a claim.
If you are organising, hosting or
attending multiple events per year
then there are annual event policies
available which generally offer a
lower cost-per-event than insuring
each event individually.
If you work with an insurer for a
period of time, it is likely they will
be able to maintain your insurance
premium, or in some cases reduce
it, based on their long standing
experience of your event or venue.
Building a relationship with your
insurer will stand you in good stead
for the long term.
By opening up your venue, or
organising/exhibiting at an event,
you want everyone involved to
have an enjoyable, rewarding and
profitable event. Ultimately, an
insurance policy is a risk mitigation
tool. Ensuring you have your
own insurance in place to protect
your negligence is important; by
stipulating that your clients also
have adequate insurance in place
can give you peace of mind that
they have financial security to cover
any claims.
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