Event Insurance

Whether you’re hosting a gala, charity dinner, sporting event, corporate function, concert, wedding, or just a plain old party, people can be injured and property can be damaged. Purchasing event insurance can help protect you against any risks associated with hosting your function.

Event insurance coverage can be tailored specifically to the type of event you are hosting ranging from a simple corporate Christmas party to more elaborate multi-day concerts or exhibitions.

Although public liability coverage is the most important protection offered by event insurance as it protects you against liability claims from attendees, the venue owner, and other 3rd parties other important coverage options include: event cancelation, exhibition insurance, non-appearance insurance, forced loss of audience protection, and wedding dress protection.

Hong Kongers love to have fun – with the go go go nature of the city, events like galas, weddings, sporting events, and corporate functions offer Hong Kongers an important way to cut loose a little even while doing business on the side. That said, a lot can go wrong during an event and the last thing you want is to be the subject of a lawsuit if something goes awry. Audience members can become injured or the venue owner’s property can be damaged by an attendee or by the event activities themselves.

If you’re planning an event, purchasing event insurance can give you several vital coverages to ensure you’re protected financially from any liability arising out of the event.

While event insurance coverage is tailored specifically to the event you’re running, common protections include:

● Public Liability
● Event Cancelation
● Exhibition Insurance
● Non-appearance Insurance
● Forced Loss of Audience Protection
● Wedding Dress Protection

The most important protection here is the public liability coverage which protects you against lawsuits from 3rd parties alleging bodily injury, property damage or personal injury (ie. wrongful arrest by event security staff).

There is no short answer to this. It depends on the nature of the event, the activities that attendees will be participating in, the number of attendees, the size and location of the venue, and whether there will be alcohol served during the event.

If you’re planning an event and want a preliminary idea of costs so you can include them in your budget, speak with a Trusted Union insurance advisor about your event. We’ve dealt with event insurance with premiums as low as HK$2,750 to as high as HK$1,000,000 ++ and will work to get you the best protection for your budget.

For many event planners and event promoters, public liability insurance is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about insuring an event – and for good reason. As fun as events are, they are also pretty risky. Even sober corporate networking events can quickly get out of hand and guests can be injured.

Common examples include lighting fixtures that come loose and fall onto an attendee or an attendee becoming a little bit too intoxicated and accidentally breaking some of the venue’s furniture.

Event insurance public liability provides good coverage against accidental bodily injury and property damage to any person including attendees and passers-by. It also provides coverage against accidental trespass, nuisance or interference or personal injury claims like accidental wrongful arrest, detention or false imprisonment.

Protection against public liability is granted on a worldwide basis but many will exclude Canada and the United States. That means if you have attendees coming in from excluded countries and decide to raise their lawsuit against you in their home country, you would have no protection. It would simply cost insurance companies too much to defend you in those excluded jurisdictions.

Planning an event is a high-wire juggling act. With so many moving parts, it’s not odd for something to do catastrophically wrong. Event insurance includes all sorts of coverage to protect against practically everything that can go awry.

As part of your event insurance, you can get the following coverage:

Public Liability: this protects you against 3rd party liability claims alleging things like bodily injury, property damage, trespass or nuisance, wrongful arrest or detention, and false arrest.

Event Cancelation: events can be cancelled for many reasons – some of which are outside even the most experienced event planner’s control – such as flood, earthquake or typhoon. Event cancelation insurance will reimburse event planners for non-refundable expenses incurred in organizing the event, profits, and other additional costs.

Exhibition Insurance: if your event is an exhibition with 3rd party exhibitors putting up booths and the like, exhibition insurance protects you against damage to their stands/booths. You can also get coverage for objects being exhibited such as jewellery, artwork, etc.

Non-appearance Insurance: often times, events hinge upon one person. Maybe it’s a band to a concert or a bride at a wedding. Without these people, the event cannot continue. In these vital persons are unable to make it to the event due to things like death, injury, illness, etc. the event has to be cancelled or postponed. Non-appearance insurance will step in to reimburse any non-refundable costs.

Forced Loss of Audience Protection: if for some reason your audience cannot make it to your event, even if it’s for a reason beyond the insured’s control, they will demand compensation (ie. refunds). In these cases, forced loss of audience protection will step in to compensate these people. Examples of common causes of audience loss include public transport strikes, bad weather, national disaster, or breakdown of the reservation/ticketing system.

Wedding Dress Protection: it’s no understatement to say that wedding dresses are expensive. Whether it’s your own wedding or you’re a planner getting coverage for your clients, you should purchase this protection to cover damage to the wedding dress the bride owns, rents, or borrows. This protection will pay for the full value of the dress if it is destroyed or for cleaning or restoration if the dress is fixable. Coverage is provided on a worldwide basis so even destination weddings are protected here.

A lot of venues like hotels, restaurants, and conference halls will require a certificate of insurance from the host before they will rent the location to you. Once you’ve purchase event insurance, speak with your insurance broker to get a certificate of insurance.

Tip: Many venues will require their business name, mailing address, etc. on the certificate of insurance. Check with the venue to see what sort of information they need on the certificate before approaching your broker to make sure you get your certificate of insurance in time to secure your booking.