Do I Need Event Public Liability Insurance?

Organizing events can involve booking talent, setting up the catering, providing security and coming up with rain dates and contingency plans. One important part of event planning could also be event public liability insurance. This form of public insurance could be a legal insurance requirement depending on the type and location of your event. It could be an optional purchase to help mitigate the risk of event liability. Event organizers should determine what their legal obligations are and their risk tolerance are to determine if they need event public liability insurance.

Other insurance policies besides event public liability insurance might provide protection for event liability. For instance, general liability insurance provides coverage for the event organizer as well as vendors and other partners involved in the event, protecting them from liability for third-party losses. These can include lawsuits and damage claims made by event attendees if they suffer a physical injury or damage to their property. Typically, the event location will require the organizer to have a certain amount of this type of insurance.

An event public liability insurance policy, on the other hand, can be specifically crafted to match the risk of a given event. General liability insurance may be acceptable to protect venues and event organizers from casual accidents such as guest slips and falls. An event public liability insurance policy can be added to cover risks specific to particular events, such as liquor liability, if you are serving at the event or non-owned auto liability, if you have to rent vehicles for the event. Another add-on public insurance policy to consider is cancellation insurance, which protects the organizer if an event cannot be held for various reasons.

To determine if you need an event public liability insurance policy and to determine exactly which coverage is needed, the first step is to contact your insurance agents or brokers. They will be able to help analyze the event contract to determine if you have a legal insurance requirement and, if so, what it is. They can also help decide what event public liability insurance will be required on top of your general liability insurance.

Insurance agents can also help event organizers to get the most cost-effective insurance protection, although the cheapest event public liability insurance is not always the best. One other consideration is the financial strength of the insurance company. When an insurance company has a strong rating, it will more likely be willing and able to pay should something occur at your event and you need to file a claim on the event policy.