Public or private event - Public Liability insurance is essential. 
Events come in all shapes and sizes – from intimate weddings of 50 or 100 people through to a 5,000 strong technology conferences. No matter how big or small, public or intimate an event may be, chances are that they will be an emotionally charged experience. So why not let someone else pick up the bill if something goes wrong – let your insurance work for you.

Of course, the aim of the game is to put on the event of your client’s life – one that they and their attendees will remember for a long time to come. But you know that there are so many things that could go wrong – especially if you have a picky or indecisive client. Will the bride-to-be change her mind about the exotic flower arrangements that you have gained Australian Customs permission to bring in from Fiji, will the 10-meter wide flat screen adequately display the key note speakers address at a shareholders AGM and will there be enough security on hand to contain a crowd of thousands at the Powderfinger come-back concert that you’ve been asked to organise.

There are three key ways of thinking about whether you need insurance: 1. does the government or client require you to have it; 2. what are the specific risks related to events that you put on; and 3. based on the first two things, are your pockets deep enough to cover any losses that your client might sue you for, damages to property or physical injury to event attendees. If you answered yes to 3, you’ll probably be better off investing that money into an ING account where you’ll get a much better return. So let’s focus on public liability. There are two key elements of risk you will not be able to escape: the likelihood of an attendee injuring themselves or damage to property for which you are in charge of.

No matter how careful you may be the chances of an attendee getting injured is generally significant. This is because people are individuals and are affected in their own unique way by their environment. Risk factors such as alcohol, geographical location or even demographic can affect whether people will fall into harm’s way. Sure, you need to do everything in your power to make sure this doesn’t happen but if something does happen it will be quite a costly affair – even simple things like accidently spilling hot drinks, chocking on plastic cutlery or unfortunate things like food poisoning.

If you have hired equipment or some other form of property – e.g. a hall, you will most likely be liable for any damages that attendees may cause – irrespective of whether that damage was intentional or not. Even if the property owner is insured their insurance company will pursue you for damages every chance they get.

So when you’re putting on your next event take the time to reflect on previous experiences and decide whether it’s worthwhile taking the risks. Generally, you can buy this piece of mind and indeed use it to advertise your credentials for as little as $600-$700 depending on your experience, turnover and types of events that you organise.

Getting Public Liability insurance for your event management company

Insurance is about transferring risk. As an event manager you might not see a point in holding a reserve of $10 million or $20 million just in case someone decides to sue you because they suffered an injury or loss during your event or because you damaged their property. Rather than holding onto this money, you might like to pay a tiny fraction of it – typically between $600 and $1,000 for someone else to hold onto this risk. But where does one start and what do you look for?

In Australia there are two options: you either speak to a broker or you call the insurance company direct. Calling direct however may mean that you won’t get advice that reflects your business needs and conditions that you may get by talking to an insurance broker. In addition, an insurance broker can access a wider range of pricing options from insurance companies that do not deal directly with the public. Either way, you should ask for a comparison of terms and conditions, including policy wordings and applicable excesses.

Generally, most public liability policy wordings cover the same things and many brands tend to share the same wording and pricing. Suncorp for example, owns AAMI, GIO and Vero – all big commercial insurance brands whereas IAG owns NRMA Insurance, CGU, The Buzz and Swann Insurance amongst others. Ultimately you will need to decide for yourself which brand works best for you.

In relative terms it will generally work out to be more cost effective to obtain $20 million worth of cover rather than say $5 million or $10 million but be sure to check what level of excess you are being charged. In some instances the level that you buy may be dependent upon the requirements of your clients – particularly the higher-paying ones that will take your risk management credentials into consideration when assessing event managers.

It is also worthwhile ensuring that you policy covers liability for physical/bodily injury to attendees, liability for property damage that you may be responsible for as well as liability for any products which you may be providing during the event – irrespective of whether you manufacture these or not. It is important to remember that even if you don’t cause an event such as bodily injury to happen, you may get caught up in lengthy and expensive legal proceedings – costs which might also be covered under you public liability policy.

Author profile

Vincent Moran is the editor at www.mybiz247.com.au – a free resource on insurance for small business in Australia.

Vincent’s background is in insurance product development, covering both personal and commercial/business insurance.

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