Category: Event Insurance

19 September 2020

Do I need event insurance?

Why buy event insurance?

In today’s world full of blame culture and people preparing to take legal action at the drop of a hat, it is vital that event organisers have appropriate event insurance in place. The same principle applies to stallholders and exhibitors at events.

Furthermore, many venues need proof of an organisers liability insurance, usually in the form of a certificate. Without it, they would most likely refuse use of their facility.

The insurance cover you require will always be specific to your event. Nevertheless, there is an array of cover options available to protect your finances, assets and liabilities:

Event public liability insurance
Employers liability insurance
Event equipment insurance
Cancellation and non appearance insurance

Event Insurance for big, unusual and sports events

We can cover larger and more complicated events?

We have considerable experience in insurance for festivals, concerns, sporting events as well as unusual and niche events.

If you find yourself struggling to figure out what cover you need, our team can assist. We can discuss your options and requirements or even just provide some advice and information.

Here at David J Miller’s, we are dedicated to ensuring your liabilities are covered. As a leading UK event insurance broker, we can provide quotations for a vast array of events from small community fun days to huge music festivals.

It essential to have confidence in your insurance broker

Without confidence in your broker, you can’t have confidence in your insurance cover. Rest assured that we utilise some of the largest names in insurance to provide our policies.

What events can we not insure?

To put it simply, there is very little we can’t do. From low-key business meetings to high octane obstacle courses, we can provide adequate insurance coverage.

Furthermore we can offer quotations for parties, beer festivals, boxing matches, dinner dances and balls, community fetes, fayres, festivals, charity events, sports events and firework displays. However, this is not an exhaustive list.

If you can’t find a mention of the type of event you’re organising, give our team a call.

Getting an event insurance quote?

To get an event insurance quote, simply complete our online enquiry form. Subsequently, one of our account handlers will give you a call to take the additional information required.

Dedicated to our craft

We have always been proud of the service we provide but are constantly evolving. Similarly, we find that our clients are incredibly satisfied with us during the lifespan of their policy.

20 March 2019

Tips for an amazing Easter event

Creating a family friendly Easter event can be a bit tricky. You need to the right balance of fun and rules. You want the children to enjoy themselves whilst the parents know they are safe.

So what can you do to make your Easter event a success?

Find the space

Essentially, the right space itself can make your event a real joy to attend. Try and find somewhere gated or with clear boundaries. This will give the parents of any children a bit of peace of mind.

There are plenty of community areas that may suffice. Alternatively, ask around your neighbourhood. You never know, there might be someone with a huge garden willing to rent it out for your event.

Pick the right date

Organising your event to take place on Easter Sunday might be more of a hindrance than you expect. A lot of people prefer to spend quality family time together on this day. Why not try a day or two beforehand? This will hopefully ensure that you get the best turnout possible whilst avoiding any competition from similar events.

Games for the children

There are plenty of the usual games that you can organise for the children attending your event. However, it’s most likely the Easter egg hunt that the kids are waiting for.

Take your time setting up the hunt. Invest in as many eggs as you can and space them out well within the space.

Then organise how you’re going to release the children. Why not set the younger children off first? Give them chance to find the eggs in plain site. Once they have a few in their baskets, they will probably be happy to call it a day. Then you can instruct the older kids to actually hunt for the remaining eggs. The older children will enjoy the challenge and will probably appreciate that they’ll need to use a bit of ingenuity.

If you’re concerned about anyone missing out, why not allocate a few ushers to roam the space with some extra eggs. They will be on hand to slyly drop treats in the direct path of some struggling participants.

Don’t forget the grown ups

Most parents are more than happy to sit down with a cup of tea and watch their child enjoy themselves. So give them the tools to do just that. If you provide hot drinks, refreshments and snacks, the adults will be more than happy.

If you throw together some stalls and a tombola, even better. Just make sure that if you’re hiring any third parties to run stalls or stands, they hold adequate stallholder insurance.

Make sure that it is an event that all of the family can have a great time at.

Making sure your event is a success will obviously be your top priority. Nevertheless, incidents can happen at any time and without special event insurance, you could find yourself in a troubling position.

4 March 2019

Do you need event insurance for a party?

When organising a party, one of the last things you might think of is event insurance. The question is, do you really need to insure your party?

Unsurprisingly, our answer will always be yes.

What if you have to cancel the party?

If you’re unfortunate enough to find yourself in a position where you have to cancel your event, surely you’d not want to be left significantly out of pocket? Opting for event cancellation insurance, this can cover your irrecoverable expenses incurred in the occurrence that you cannot go ahead with the party. Wherever you source your cancellation insurance from, ensure that you read the exclusions. Your policy may not cover a range of circumstances including cancellation due to bad weather which might be a deal breaker if your party is meant to be outdoors.

What if you accidentally injury someone or their property?

What if your negligence is the cause of injury to a party guest? Similarly what if through your actions, you accidentally damage somebody’s property? You could be left to cover any compensation or replacement costs.

Public liability insurance is designed specifically to protect against the aforementioned circumstances.

Should you protect your equipment?

If your party relies on sound and lighting, why risk having the replacement costs of the equipment if a guest was to damage it?

Furthermore, event equipment insurance doesn’t just cover items that you own. Cover can protect equipment that you have hired in for your event.

Would my insurance cover a DJ?

If you’re hiring in a DJ for the party, they would need their own insurance. As the organiser, you cannot be responsible for any incidents resulting from the actions of the DJ.

We can provide DJ insurance cover for public liability as well as equipment cover.

If you have any questions about your party insurance, why not speak with us via our LiveChat? Alternatively, give us a call. One of our account handlers will be more than happy to help.

With Easter just around the corner, check out our article on Tips for an amazing Easter event.

2 March 2019

Potential Risks & Single Day Event Insurance

As an event organiser, there are a multitude of tasks constantly occupying your mind. It’s no surprise that your single day event insurance can be overlooked from time to time.

Our experience has explicitly taught us just how draining organising a one off event can be. We are here to help. Our aim is to make sourcing your event insurance the simplest task on your list.

Why do you need event insurance and, more specifically, what are the risks involved in organising a one day event?

Public liability – insuring against potential injury

The first example most companies use to emphasise the importance of events insurance is an event attendee injuring themselves through your, or your employees, negligence.

If a member of the public trips on some unsecured cabling and injuries themselves, your company is liable. Similarly, if you have incorrectly erected a piece of equipment that disassembles and hurts someone, you could find yourself facing a public liability claim.

In the above scenarios, event public liability insurance would assist in covering the legal costs and compensation awarded to the injured party.

Employers liability

Paid or unpaid, if someone is operating under your supervision and control, they may be considered an employee. As such, if they suffer an injury or fall ill as a result of their work, you could be held responsible.

Employers liability insurance is a requirement by law. An employers liability policy would assist in paying damages, expenses and claimants costs in the event of an incident involving your employee.

Public liability – insuring against property damage

If a guest at your event was to accidentally break something belonging to the hired venue, you would need insurance coverage to ensure you do not have to cover the replacement costs yourself.

For the majority of people, insuring for public liability relates to an injury. However, public liability insurance also provides cover for third party property damage.

If there is accidental damage to property or equipment, that doesn’t belong to you or the organising company, the public liability insurance portion of your event policy could provide cover for the damage.

Cancellation – what if your event cannot go ahead?

As tragic as it will be to admit, there will always be things out of your control.

What would happen if your event venue was unable to hold said event due to food poisoning? At the very last minute, and with no suitable venue alternative available, you would have to cancel the event.

Subsequently, without an event cancellation insurance policy, you would lose out on costs and expenses.

We can provide cancellation cover to reimburse any irrecoverable expenses. Alternatively, it can recover loss of gross revenue in the occurrence of unforeseeable cancellation of your event

Insure with ease

Here at David J Miller’s, we understand that event the best laid plans can go awry.

If you have any queries regarding your event insurance, take a look at our frequently asked questions.

Additionally, you can speak with us through our Live Chat or simply give us a call.

We can provide quotations in minutes and have you on cover in no time. We are dedicated to ensuring that you insure with ease.

It might not always be apparent if you require insurance for something you are planning. For example, our blog titled Do you need event insurance for a party? can provide some information on insuring for private parties.

28 February 2019

Bad Weather Insurance

Insurance caters for the unforeseen and the unpredictable. What’s more unpredictable than the great British weather?

The majority of event organisers worry that their event is going to be interrupted by a sudden torrential downpour of rain, but can you insure against these risks?

Is there such a thing as bad weather insurance?

Essentially: yes.

More commonly, bad weather insurance is known as event cancellation insurance. Cancellation cover can include financial protection should your event fall victim to adverse weather.

If you are organising a community fun day, a sporting event or any other outdoor event, make sure that you are familiar with the event insurance cover options that are available to you.

What is adverse weather?

Adverse weather cover refers to conditions so bad that running the event would be deemed dangerous. In this case, you should ensure that your insurance provides adequate cover for cancellation of the event. Similarly, cover can be provided should inclement weather deter the crowd from attending the event.

Furthermore, we can extend cancellation insurance to include excessive wind speeds and rainfall.

Making sure your insurance covers your needs

It’s imperative that with any event insurance quotations you receive, you check that the cover is adequate for your personal requirements.

Event insurance policies may not include event cancellation as standard. Ensure that you put your coverage needs to your supplier in order to reap the benefits of a tailored insurance policy.

If you find yourself unsure of the cover you require, give our dedicated account handlers a call. We can assist with any questions you may have.

Similarly, take a look at our online enquiry form. You can easily input any cover needs for our team to receive and don’t be shy, if you have any questions about bad weather insurance, let us know.

Bad weather isn’t the only risk looming, our blog on Potential Risks & Single Day Event Insurance may provide some insight.

27 February 2019

5 Tips For A Successful Stall

It’s no secret that, if you have a stall at a fayre, trade show or other event, location is a big factor.

Those situated next to the entrance may garner more attention than those tucked away in the back corner.

So how can you guarantee that your stall will be a success?

Competitions

If you can get your hands on a prize that will draw people to your stall, you’re definitely on to a winner. The general public like a prize whether it’s a smart TV or a £20 gift card.

Organise a competition or raffle and the word will soon spread around the event.

However, you don’t want to be giving something away for free, why not try a raffle where anyone who makes a purchase/signs up for a service at your stall is given a free raffle ticket.

In this scenario, not only does it draw people to your stall, it also encourages sales.

Cater to the public’s needs

If you’re a stallholder at a large event, put yourself in the shoes of the attendees. What do you think you can offer that is needed?

If it’s an outdoor event, why not opt for a canopy? You’ll be preempting the unpredictable weather and potentially be providing much needed shelter. If attendees are flocking to you to get out of the rain, they wont be able to help perusing your goods.

Why not provide refreshments at your stall alongside your main services? Encourage attendees to visit your stall and beat the queues at the beverage stands.

Mingle and meet

If there is more than just yourself running the stall, head out and stretch your legs. Mingle with the attendees and let them know of the goods you’re providing at your stalls.

Additionally, this is the perfect opportunity to hand out leaflets if you have them.

Display is key

Ensuring your stall is pleasing to the eye is imperative. It’s unlikely that anyone will approach a stall that looks thrown together haphazardly.

Start off with any bigger items towards the back of your counter, or on their own separate unit. Then descend in size as you advance toward the front of the surface.

If you have any branding, make sure it is clear and integrated within the stall.

Just make sure you don’t obstruct any walkways or have any trailing equipment. As a stallholder, the last thing you want is a public liability insurance claim presenting against you.

Games and activities

If your stall is centered more around a service than goods, you might find it trickier to entice people over to you. Sometimes these kinds of stalls can appear ever-so-slightly empty.

Games and activities can cause attendees to flock to your stall providing that you can offer something special.

Carnival and fairground games will always go down a treat with the public. Moreover, if you can tailor the game to have relevance to the services you’re advertising, you’ll be at the forefront of the attendee’s minds.

At the end of the day, your stall location doesn’t have to make or break your experience at the event. There are countless techniques to encourage people to visit your stall, and the above ones we have detailed are in no way exhaustive.

If we can be of any assistance, including providing a stallholder public liability insurance quotation, please contact us without delay.

Don’t let the rain wash out an event, take a look at our blog on Bad Weather Insurance.

14 February 2019

One Day Or Multiple Event Insurance?

Is there a benefit to opting for multiple event insurance?

If you find yourself calling your event insurance provider every month to take out one day event insurance, you might be missing out on the advantages of a multiple event insurance policy.

One day event insurance does exactly what it says. Insurance cover would be provided for a single, one off event. On the other hand, multiple event insurance is designed to cover you for a number of events within a fixed period.

If you’re organising a community fun day in your local area without the intention to host anything else within the year, a one off event insurance policy will most likely be more suitable for you.

However, if you are up and down the country throughout the year hosting a number of trade shows or music concerts, an insurance policy for multiple events would be extremely beneficial.

How many events would it take to see any benefit?

Our in-house quotation facility can cover up to 15 or 45 events within a 12 month period. You will see a significant benefit if you host more than a single event in the year. Firstly, you eliminate the need to give us a call whenever you’re planning an event. Secondly, if you were to take out 15 single event policies, the combined premium would be considerably more expensive.

What does a multiple event policy cover?

Simply put, a multiple event policy provides the same coverage as that of a one off policy. The difference being, that, on our in-house event insurance scheme, it can cover up to 15 or 45 events. We are able to provide cover for over 45 events, however, we would need to refer to our underwriters.

Using our in-house event scheme, we can provide public liability cover up to an indemnity limit of up to £10,000,000. In addition to the public liability cover, we can also offer employers liability insurance quotations up to the industry standard limit of £10,000,000 indemnity.

If you’re looking for event equipment cover, then we are here to help. We can offer event equipment insurance quotations up to £20,000 cover.

What about stallholders and exhibitors?

Don’t worry, we don’t like to miss anyone out. We are able to cover stallholders, exhibitors, bands and performers on an annual basis, providing cover for up to 100 days within a year. Our cover is subject to a maximum of 5 continuous days per event.

If you would like have the best stall you can, check out our5 Tips For A Successful Stall

12 February 2019

Becoming a Face Painter

If you are looking at venturing into the world of face painting, there are some basics you may want to tackle first.

Find your kit

Sourcing the right face paints is essential. If you don’t do your research and a child suffers a bad reaction due to unfit supplies, you could be in for a rough ride.

Try and find the equipment that all of the professional face painters use. The age-old adage “you get what you pay for” may apply in this situation.

For a quick start, we have provided a link below to one of the most popular search results for face paints:

http://www.facepaint-uk.com/

Fine tune your skills

If you can paint the best butterfly onto a child’s face, you might be off to a good start, however some children will want a bit of variety.

It’s a fine balancing act because; you want a nice range of options, but if you have too many, some may not be up to the best standard.

It’s all about practise. Try taking a selection of 10 of the best designs and practise them day and night. If you have you have children of your own, USE THEM. You’ll be lucky enough to have a guinea pig at your disposal.

Sell yourself

Business names can be tricky. If this is the route you are going down, you need to find a name that incorporates your trade whilst also shows suitability to work with children. “Face Vandal”, for example, does acknowledge your business activities but may cause some parents to rethink adding you to their child’s birthday party.

If you’re working as an individual, it’s best to channel your inner “kid’s TV presenter”. A face painter full of laughter and smiles is a lot more approachable than one with a permanent scowl and a visible disdain for children.

Advertising

Whilst advertisements on Facebook and in your local paper may drum up some business, an old playwright’s motto of “show, don’t tell” is very applicable to your business ideals. After all, people will want evidence of your talents before hiring you.

Instagram is the perfect place to create a profile dedicated to your face painting exploits where you can display all your designs and previous works.

Side note; make sure you get a parent’s or guardian’s written permission before featuring their child on your social media.

Here at Event Insurance Direct, we can provide face painting insurance in a matter of minutes. Simply fill out our enquiry form or give us a call today.

If you find yourself organising a number of events throughout the year, you might be wondering about the differences between the policies available. Check out out blog: One Day Or Multiple Event Insurance?

how to get liability insurance for an event

11 February 2019

Events To Engage A Younger Audience

As an event organiser, you might find that you have some difficulty engaging a younger audience. For the most part, the interests of a teenager vary massively from those of a 40 year old. So how do you go about engaging with a younger audience?

Why not tailor your next event solely to them? Below are a few ideas to get you started.

Video game tournament

The first, and possibly most important step in organising a video game tournament is deciding the games to be played.

If you’re opting for games such as Call of Duty or Fortnite, will you be running a team based tournament? Similarly, if you’re heading down the avenue of Mortal Combat or Injustice (1 vs 1 games), it might be best to have more than one console set up to avoid attendees becoming bored. Depending on your audience size, you need to find a suitable venue. Will a function room and 50″ TV be suitable or can you hire out a screen at your local independent cinema?

In terms of prizes, the chances are that most attendees will already have a console (hence their interest in the event). Therefore, consider a prize that adds to their home entertainment system with a new TV or surround sound speakers.

From there, you’ll need to work out the bracket system (who plays whom) and ensure that the tournament is run fairly.

Keep the tournament as friendly as possible to avoid any tantrums. Your event liability insurance will not cover a bruised ego.

Music festival

It’s very rare that someone will have survived through their teenage years without attending a music festival.

However, it’s very unlikely that you will manage to get Ariana Grande headlining your event. Therefore, try reaching out to local bands. Keep in mind that teenagers, for the most part, want what’s current. It’s difficult to imagine hundreds of 16 year olds flocking to see Rick Astley or Chesney Hawkes.

It can be a mean feat to organise your own music festival. Luckily, we have a relatively comprehensive article on organising a DIY music festival.

Role play party

When someone says “role play” you may automatically think of L.A.I.R.E (live action interactive roleplaying explorers). However, this is not the full extent of the possibilities.

Murder mystery parties are once again becoming extremely popular. Similarly, escape rooms and problem solving games are all the rage. They can be organised using a small group of people, or even paid performers with a large audience.

For a small group, simply source a venue and design a situation. Are the participants trapped in a scary environment? Have your attendees been named as suspects in a murder? Whatever you choose, make sure the idea is vivid with every eventuality mapped out.

Following from the idea, you need to assign roles to your participants. Depending on the event, you can make a full backstory for each character ensuring the immersion is comprehensive. For an escape room, they may all be convicted prisoners. If you have opted for a murder mystery, why not make someone the obvious suspect with a criminal past, and then twist the narrative half way through to point the finger at the most seemingly innocent character.

Some performance companies host murder mystery’s where their paid performers act as the characters, essentially putting on a small play. Subsequently, the audience all act as the detectives. They are encouraged to ask questions, interview the suspects and examine the crimes scene.

For examples of murder mystery events, check out the following link: https://murdermysteryevents.com/

Technology exhibition

Why not encourage teenagers to look up from their screens? What better way to do that, than by giving them other screens to look at?

A technology exhibition depends on stallholders and exhibitors providing the content. After you have found the suitable venue, you should advertise that the event is looking for exhibitors to display their technology.

The stalls can range from phones, computers and video consoles to robotics, gadgets and home appliances.

Just make sure that your exhibitors hold their own event liability insurance as you cannot be held responsible for their negligence.

Ensure you have adequate event insurance

Any event you organise can come to a nasty halt if you’re unfortunate enough for an attendee to suffer an injury. Ensure you have comprehensive event public liability insurance to cover any compensation and legal costs should a claim be brought forward.

You might be asking yourself questions such as how much is event insurance and wondering how to get liability insurance for an event. Never fear, we have a handy page featuring all of the frequently asked questions.

If we haven’t answered your queries there, give us a call and our account handlers will be able to deal with any questions you may have.

If you’re looking at entertaining an even younger generation, our Becoming a Face Painter blog might just help.

2 February 2019

Organising The Spookiest Ghost Hunt

The world of the paranormal is fascinating, if somewhat scary, to a lot of people.

If you’re an avid ghost hunter or an experienced researcher of the paranormal why not organise your own paranormal investigation event?

A ghost hunt is the perfect way to connect with your already established fan base whilst also allowing the opportunity to entice some newcomers. Planning the event can be relatively simple however, if you have experience within this sector, you’re probably very aware that the likelihood of seeing an actual ghost at the event is minimal.

The Guests Come First

Whilst you might be very excited to spend an evening doing something you love, good structure and itinerary can make certain that your event goes off without a hitch.

Relevant activities can keep your audience engaged but what is your intended goal? Are you solely hoping to provide some thrills to your audience or do you want to give a genuine taster of the paranormal investigation life.

Where To Go

Once you have decided the main goal of your Ghost Hunt, the next task is to find the perfect venue.

As a paranormal researcher, you may have heard some rumblings about local pubs, guesthouses or abandoned care homes being haunted. However, the UK is home to some of the most known-to-be haunted venues in the world.T

Take a look at a list of some of the most haunted places in the UK below:

The Tower of London – https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/visit
Pendle Hill – https://www.visitlancashire.com/explore/pendle-hill
The Ancient Ram Inn – https://www.hauntedrooms.co.uk/the-ancient-ram-inn-wotton-under-edge-gloucestershire
Borley Rectory – http://www.britannia.com/history/legend/borley.html
Woodchester Mansion – http://www.woodchestermansion.org.uk/HomePage.aspx
Highgate Cemetery – https://highgatecemetery.org/
Muncaster Castle – http://www.muncaster.co.uk/
Samlesbury Hall – https://www.samlesburyhall.co.uk/

The Frightening

Planning some thrilling activities can help you avoid the potential boring experience of sitting in a dark room in silence for 2 hours.

Your first port-of-call is obviously to tour the premises, leading your guests and ensuring that everyone remains calm and centered. You can discuss the history of each area as you explore whilst also advising participants to keep their eyes and ears open for any ghosts.

If you have access to EMF meters (electromagnetic field detectors), it could be a good idea to distrubute them out to the audience, giving them more control of the situation. Additionally, you can go a step further and actively include them in the investigation. Assign roles such as camera operator, EMF meter handler, microphone assistant and torch management. This will help your guests feel like a essential part of the team.

If you want to bring the hunt to a thrilling climax, why not participate in a seance / Ouija board? Depending on group size, you may need to split up to ensure activity effectiveness.

It’s always best to do these tense activities in small dark areas. This allows for great audio recording, sets the tone for the rest of the group and also provides an appropriate space for any visiting spirits.

Public Liability Insurance For A Day

Safety always comes first.

Having first aid on hand is essential. Your are providing a very tense experience and not everyone can be as cool and collected as you. You should prepare yourself for any anxiety attacks and potential fainting.

Similarly, the chances are that you are exploring an old building, in the dark. It is not always evident if there is something blocking a walkway.

If a guest suffers an injury that you could have prevented, you may be held responsible and have to pay out legal costs and compensation in the event of a claim.

Finally, we can provide cover for event public liability insurance for a day. Specifically cover your liabilities should an incident occur and you been seen as negligent.

If you find that your events aren’t hitting the spot with the young ones, why not check out our guide to Events To Engage A Younger Audience