Event Planner Insurance

Event Planner Insurance: Everything You Need To Know

Simply put, an event planner insurance policy covers losses incurred when things go wrong around an event that you have organized as an event planner.

Wedding planners or event planners both need event company insurance. 

What kind of event planner insurance is best for your business? Read on to understand how it works and what factors influence the cost of your insurance.

If you have questions or want to check the current prices, you can contact us today and get all the information you need fast and free!

Event planner examining crockery

What Is Event Planning Insurance?

Event planner liability insurance is a policy that covers most of the losses your company would incur if an accident occurs during an event. 

Your business would be covered if the calamity happened during or before the event, preventing the event from being carried out.

Event planning is a stressful occupation. Some of the stress can be lessened by having a good event planner liability insurance policy before every event you run.

Organizing even modest events can be a pressure cooker when whatever can go wrong generally does go wrong and often at the worst time. The bigger and more complicated the event, the more complex and complicated the planning can be, and the greater the problems when things begin to go sideways due to some unforeseen event.

A good example is an unexpected summer storm at an outdoor wedding.

If an unforeseen hitch results in an event cancellation, your business is responsible for planning, which can result in a claim against your business. This is when good liability insurance for event planners’ policy is salvation.

Examples of What Event Planner Insurance Covers

Event planner insurance coverage typically has three basic components to it:

  • Event liability coverage
  • Event cancellation coverage
  • Errors and omission coverage

Let’s consider the example of a wedding planner. You have organized a wedding with 100 guests. The weather forecast calls for dry and warm weather. The tents are up, everything is ready to go, and disaster strikes in the way of a sudden summer storm. The venue is ruined — unless you had wedding planner insurance.

Or, you are an event planner for a large corporation’s annual Christmas office party. On the evening of the event, there was a massive power failure. The event has been canceled and has to be re-scheduled.

A third example: let’s say you’re the event planner for an awards banquet, and the event is canceled due to the unexpected illness of several key people.

The insurance for an event planning business’s cancellation coverage takes care of the costs of rescheduling the events for all three events.

The liability aspect covers the following three examples:

  • A guest accidentally backs into a fence in the venue parking lot, causing extensive damage.
  • The caterer’s staff damages the floor of the venue with their carts.
  • A dancing guest falls over and knocks over a display, breaking several valuable items.

Errors and omission coverage is another aspect of business insurance for event planners that should be part of the insurance policy package. Basically, the coverage covers any claims in an instance where a client claims the event planner is responsible for services that were not provided.

Read More: Guide To Commercial Auto Insurance

How Event Planning Insurance Works

As an experienced event planner, you may have years of business under your belt, but if disaster strikes, you could lose thousands of dollars. Not only would cancellation incur losses, but the event would have to be rescheduled, and the only venue available for the chosen date would be a great deal more expensive.

Your representative will provide claim forms and help you in fill them out. Once the forms are completed, they will be delivered to the claims department. The claims department will probably have questions. Still, if the claim information is verifiable, the insurer will provide a check for everything but the deductible.

Event Planner Insurance Requirements

What does insurance for event planners cover? And what won’t it cover? 

Many risks need to be factored in when planning an event. The summer months are a favorite time of year for events, such as outdoor weddings and car shows. However, in the summer months, inclement weather can rear its ugly head in the way of a windstorm, an unseasonable rainstorm, or in certain areas, even tornados.

The primary risk is bad weather if an event is held outdoors. In many parts of the country, the weather can be unpredictable, particularly in spring or fall, when daytime temperatures can be warm enough for an outdoor event. However, weather can also present problems during the summer months.

You need event planners’ insurance for several different reasons. The main reason is to avoid being sued. Lawsuits are expensive. You should protect yourself as much as you can from unforeseen and worst-case scenarios.

To summarize, event insurance will cover most unexpected situations that occur. If your business is not covered, this can leave you exposed to possible lawsuits, large out-of-pocket costs, and in general, a loss to your business that could be difficult to recover from.

Why Event Planner Insurance Is Important?

Many uncontrollable events can cause the cancellation of an event. They can include a strike or a labor dispute, a fire, a power failure, unexpected extreme weather conditions, or even in extreme cases, political or civil unrest or an earthquake.

As a busy event planner with a good reputation, you do not want to be left with the expense of rescheduling an event or paying for damages incurred by events out of your control.

This very important insurance cover can be the difference between your business surviving a calamity over which you have no control.

Why the East Insurance Group Is the Company You Should Choose

The East Insurance Group prides itself on providing top-notch customer service and client support. We’re here when you need us. We are a team of responsive and professional insurance specialists.

We help keep your business safe with better insurance coverage for less.

What Event Planner Insurance Costs?

Typically, an event planner insurance policy will provide cover from $1 million to $5 million. Obviously, the higher the limit on the coverage, the more the event planner’s business insurance costs.

The costs of event planner insurance premiums can vary from policy to policy. Most event planners will purchase a blanket policy that covers all eventualities.

The following items influence the cost of event insurance;

  • The total policy value
  • The level of risk
  • The duration of the event
  • The number of events being planned annually
  • Claims history of the event planner

You can loosely compare special event insurance to your automobile policy. The higher the coverage, the more areas covered, and the more claims you have had — the higher the premium.

If an event your business plans has higher than usual risks or a greater downside if things go wrong, expect to pay higher premiums. The common event planner insurance policies generally provide $1 million to $2 million. Therefore, the event planning insurance cost will depend on the coverage required ($1 million, $2 million, or $5 million) and the deductible you will pay when a claim arises.

A $5 million with a $1,000 deductible will be more costly than a $1 million policy with a $2,500 deductible.

Your claims history will effect the cost of your premium. If you have been in business for 10 years with no claims, your premiums will be less than an event planner who has been in business for 5 years with several claims.

Event Planner Insurance Coverage

A good event planner insurance policy can be a good selling point for your services. An obvious question that an event planner’s clients could ask is, “What happens if something goes wrong? Who covers the losses and costs?”

Advising your clients or potential clients to be that you have their back by way of good event planning insurance coverage shows you care not only about your clients but also about them if things go wrong.

Juggling tasks such as creating and negotiating contracts, soliciting bids, managing vendors, managing budgets, client communications, and scouting locations are typical of an event planner’s chores.

All these can go along smoothly, then old-man-weather steps in, and everything goes off the rails. Or a delivery truck has an accident, or several staff members are off sick. Then it’s time to call in the reinforcements, which means additional costs. The budget between you and the client is fixed – how do you cover your losses?

There are two basic types of event planner insurance coverage. Venues such as restaurants and bars require full coverage due to alcohol being served permanently. The second type of policy, known as host policy, is for non-alcohol venues where a special permit is required to serve alcohol.

  • Anniversaries
  • Birthday parties
  • Office parties
  • Office banquets
  • One day or weekend expos
  • Car shows
  • Weddings
  • Engagement parties
  • Christmas parties
  • Graduation balls

It pays to check with your insurance agent before signing an agreement to plan an event. There are some venues that event planner insurance does not cover, and these can differ from insurer to insurer.

Read More: Professional Liability Insurance in Texas: Everything You Need To Know

Legal Requirements for Event Planning

An event planner has many responsibilities. Included in them are several legal matters as follows;

  • A liquor license if the event is being held apart from a licensed venue.
  • A fire marshal permit. Check with the company that is renting the venue.
  • A health department permit.

All three of these will probably be a requirement in your event planner insurance policy, and important matters should be discussed with your agent when writing the application for event planner insurance.

FAQs

What Is an Event Insurance Policy?

An event endurance policy covers all or most of the costs incurred when a calamity occurs to prevent an event from being run, if the event is interrupted, or if people attending the event cause damage.

Do I Need Insurance for an Event?

If you are an event planner, yes, you need insurance for your events!

How Does Business Insurance Protect Event Planners?

Every event planner should have general liability insurance. This will cover injuries sustained if a guest or employee trips over wire cables being laid out on the floor and sustains injuries, for example. In this case, the liability part of the business insurance would pay for individuals’ compensation claims.

Are you still confused about event planner insurance, or do you need some help getting a quote for your business? Contact us today and get all the information you need fast and for free!

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