Cover story
The event insurance landscape was utterly changed by the pandemic. Martin Linfield, divisional director event sector at James Hallam Insurance Brokers, takes us through everything you need to know about post-Covid cover.
Money matters - an M&IT series
Every insurer has changed their event cancellation, event liability, professional indemnity, and cyber insurance policy cover since 2020.
Therefore, it is crucial to seek advice, understand the policy wording and not take it for granted that any policy will do.
There are extra exclusions and conditions, so it's important to have an expert to help you stay updated on the latest changes as some of these exclusions can be “bought back”.
Martin Linfield, divisional director event sector at James Hallam Insurance Brokers
Martin Linfield, divisional director event sector at James Hallam Insurance Brokers
Event cancellation insurance can play a significant role in protecting the integrity of an event because as soon as you buy it, you have the insurer there to help you with any additional costs if there is a problem with the venue months out from your event. If the venue has a fire or flood, the insurance can pay to secure a new venue.
If your event or business is more involved in the digital or hybrid event world, it is vital to update your broker or insurer with your current business activities to ensure your commercial business insurance portfolio (professional indemnity, business interruption, directors and officers, and cyber insurance policies) reflect your current turnover and activities. A claim may not be paid if it is connected to an area the insurer did not know that you do.
This can be particularly true when considering an event that used to be for 500 in person but is now 400 in person plus a further 400 joining virtually from a variety of destinations and time zones. Have you really considered all that can go wrong? As the numbers and complexity grow you need to be discussing insurance levels, roles and responsibilities across the whole of the event supply chain – from destination and venue through to AV suppliers and caterers.
So, if your AV live stream provider or venue suffers a malicious cyber-attack on their IT systems, do they have a cyber insurance to instantly respond and get IT forensic experts in to ensure your event can proceed?
In addition, ensure that other event participants such as exhibitors, sponsors and contractors’ evidence have liability cover.
With all the disruption to businesses from Covid 19, we recommend a check across your business liability insurances and professional indemnity. What might have been sufficient a few years ago may now be far too little.
Government injury payment calculation changes, inflation and the associated rise in cost of living means that insurance pay-outs are likely to be higher. An injured individual at an event will need significantly more money to cover medical bills and on-going care than they will have done in the past, so are you buying enough public liability insurance for your events? The key is to check your insurance portfolio is up to date.
Also, don't wait until the last minute to take out or adjust insurance policies. There are employment challenges hitting all sectors of our economy, which has led to a slowdown in response times across many professions including insurers. Seek advice now rather than the day before you need cover to start.
Ultimately, insurance exists for the next unknown. No one can predict the future, but having business and event insurance that is up to date can provide peace of mind and financial protection in case of unforeseen circumstances.
James Hallam Events and James Hallam Insurance Brokers are trading names of James Hallam Limited who are authorised and regulated by the financial conduct authority.
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