You'd be mad to skimp on event insurance

If you are organising an event, then 'insurance' is not at the top of the to-do list. But this would be a mistake because, as an event organiser, if you have no or only partial event insurance, that can be a big risk. Business events, in particular, are often underinsured. And we are genuinely shocked by that!

Does that mean you should always take out insurance? Michiel Bredius, managing director at Klap No Risk, is clear about this: "Absolutely not. But always carry out a risk analysis to determine whether insurance is necessary or not. Because it is not just about extra costs associated with a cancellation, but much more about the duty of care that all the parties in the chain have."

Your event, your responsibility

As an agency or event organiser, you have come up with a great concept for the event. Great! But are you sure your creative idea can be executed safely? To that end, it is important to work well with good, professional parties who, together with you, look at the risks taken. That is the duty of care you have as a client towards your employees and guests. Or as the organiser towards the client. Or as the supplier with the service or materials provided.

Think of it like this: during a 'compulsory' company outing, someone falls off the stage due to a defect in the erected stage. Who can be held liable?

1. All the parties involved.
2. The organiser, based on its liability as main contractor.
3. The builder, because construction was not done properly.
4. The supplier of the materials, because the materials were poor.
5. The employer, to some extent, because it was a compulsory company outing.

The answer depends entirely on what the damage / cause is, and how things have been contractually agreed. So discuss these risks in advance with all the parties in the chain and include the (low) premium in the budget so there are no surprises.

Without insurance, cancellation becomes a big deal

Michiel said it; you don't have to insure every event. But you have to be aware of the risks. Partly from the aspect of responsibility and liability, but also because events can be cancelled due to all sorts of factors. It also remains to be seen how it will affect your event financially if you are not insured for it!

Event insurance covers much more than just a death in the royal household. What about a fire at an event venue? Or the non-appearance of a key figure within the organisation or programme? Or a caterer being involved in an accident while in transit to the venue? Or extreme weather requiring the event to be cancelled? These are just some examples that have all happened, and that you want to be properly insured for. And in good time, because you have to insure for extreme weather, for example, no later than 14 days before the event.

So it may not be the most fun aspects of organising events, but it is an extremely important one. Therefore, for any event, ask for a no-obligation quote from Klap No Risk in good time. Then, using that document as a guide, you can discuss what the different risks are, so that you make a conscious decision about which parts you want to insure or not. This will ensure that you are perfectly insured against a range of risks, so that your event runs perfectly even in the moments when things go a little less perfectly.

Written by: Bas Veldkamp – Event Inspiration