Insurance Insights

November 3-9, 2014

Insure your event

By Jay Bradford

As fall arrives so do holiday parties and festivals. If you are lucky enough to be in charge of the planning, you may already have a checklist of things to arrange – the location, the caterer, the band, and the invitations. But do you need to insure your event in case of bad weather or injured guests? I can offer some tips to help you examine your options.

There are numerous types of events. If you are planning a single-occurrence event of short duration such as a wedding, you will need to consider the types of liability to which you may be exposed. Event insurance typically provides coverage for event cancellation, liability, personal injury, property damage, liquor liability, etc.

The two most common types of event insurance are liability insurance and cancellation insurance. Liability insurance provides coverage for injury or property damage to others as a result of your event. Some venues may require their clients to have a minimum amount of event liability insurance. Venues that require this type of insurance may even request that the venue itself or its owner be added as an additional insured on their client’s event liability insurance coverage. You may also need your own liability coverage to protect yourself from gaps in the venue’s liability coverage. Your personal liability insurance in your homeowners or renter’s policy may provide adequate coverage for such gaps. I suggest you check with your insurance agent to see if your policy extends to a scheduled event.

Event liability insurance is available with or without host liquor liability to cover alcohol-related incidents that may occur before, during, or after the event.

Cancellation insurance provides coverage for expenses arising from delays, rescheduling, or cancellations due to unforeseen covered events. Typically, cancellation insurance can protect you from weather, injury, or illness. Also, if a deposit has been paid to a vendor (e.g. caterer, florist, photographer, or other vendor) who fails to deliver a service, cancellation insurance may cover the loss of the deposit as well as any additional expenses incurred due to last-minute replacement vendors.

If you have questions or are confused about what your insurance needs might be for an upcoming event, discuss them with your agent.

The Arkansas Insurance Department is located at 1200 West Third Street in downtown Little Rock. 1-800-852-5494. www.insurance.arkansas.gov

Jay Bradford was appointed Insurance Commissioner by Governor Mike Beebe on January 15, 2009. Contact him at www.insurance.arkansas.gov