Resources for Special Events Insurance

When your business holds a special event, you should look into the option of taking out a special event liability insurance policy. This coverage protects your business from financial liability should you be sued for damages resulting from your event. Since your business’s general liability insurance may not cover events that serve alcohol or occur off-premise, special events insurance can be a necessary expense.

Event insurance companies count among their clients: concert venues, festival planners, commercial producers, television production companies, and advertising professionals. No matter what industry you’re in, if your business sponsors a trade show, hosts a fundraiser, or throws a party off-site, then you’ll need to look into special events coverage.

Be sure your business is already covered– consider choosing one of our hand-picked liability insurance vendors.

Choosing the Right Coverage

Special events insurance is designed to protect your business in instances where your other liability insurance may not be sufficient to protect you from the financial ramifications of a lawsuit. Events that occur off-premise or serve alcohol are examples of situations where your general liability insurance may be insufficient.

As with any liability insurance, special events insurance will cover the costs of a court case and settlement should your business be held responsible for an accident or injury that occurs during the event.

When looking into special events insurance, you should take into account the following considerations:

• Determine the type of special events insurance policies you should take out to protect your business. Coverage types include liquor liability, personal injury, aggregate and terrorism protection. An over-21 office party on a boat will require different special events coverage than a family-friendly picnic on the lawn or a trade show in a local convention center.

• Since special events liability insurance can be considered a special risk, not all liability insurance companies will extend this type of coverage. Check to see if your current insurance provider carries special events insurance and, if so, whether they can give you a special rate for being an existing customer.

• Get quotes from several different insurance companies. Compare quotes between business event insurance companies and choose the lowest price with the most coverage.

Determine Eligibility

Not all events and organizations will be eligible to take out a special event insurance policy. You may not be able to purchase special events insurance for high-risk events such as political rallies, gun shows, or water events.

If your event is eligible for insurance, there may be limits on what is and isn’t covered by your policy. For example, events which serve alcohol may have special limits or higher premiums than dry events, due to the increased risk associated with alcohol consumption. In addition, many venues will not allow you to hold events on their premises if you do not purchase adequate events liability insurance.

• Your special event insurance company will provide you with a list of limits and special conditions regarding your policy. You'll want to choose the insurance company that has the highest limits on coverage, but not the highest price. 

• Go over each policy’s limits and special conditions in order to determine if the amount of coverage will prove significant for your event. If your event insurance policy does not cover liquor liability and you plan to serve alcohol at the event, then you may have to take out a separate liquor liability policy in order to ensure adequate protection. Be aware: you can be held legally responsible if an intoxicated attendee gets into an accident after leaving your event.

After making a cost versus risk assessment, you can move forward with securing event liability insurance. You can fill out request forms online and have multiple companies return cost estimates to you. The policy you buy should be tailored to your event: the venue, the amount of risk associated with the event, and whether alcohol will be present.

If you need special events insurance, you may also want to consider our events vendors or commercial vehicle insurance.