What the wedding industry should consider about the coronavirus and insurance

In March 2020, the number of people infected with the coronavirus in the UK started to rise. As a result, people across the nation are considering their options if the virus, now officially known as COVID-19, continues to infect more people.

The UK government has released a statement confirming that a minority of people who get COVID-19 will develop complications severe enough to require hospital care. The elderly and people with underlying health risk conditions are amongst this minority.

Taking this into account, it’s understandable that couples with forthcoming weddings are worried, especially if guests are attending who are at risk of developing severe complications. Some couples may decide to cancel their wedding on their own accord. As a result, wedding businesses and professionals across the country are concerned about lost income.

Disclaimer

The purpose of this article is to offer insight for questions related to insurance and the current climate of concern caused by COVID-19. Every insurance policy is different; therefore, you SHOULD NOT use the following information as a definite answer to your queries.

We highly recommend you consult your policy wordings if you require more info about your insurance cover or contact your provider for additional clarification.

A couple has cancelled their wedding, does my business interruption cover protect me?

Please note, business interruption is not automatically included with every insurance policy provided by us. It has to be requested by our clients when taking out the policy or added on later during the insurance period. Not all policies have the option to include business interruption, such as wedding car insurance.

If you have business interruption, it covers financial losses during the time your business is unable to operate due to material damage. For example, your business premises are damaged by flooding which prevents or hinders your access to the property.

A couple cancelling their wedding on their own accord is not classed as material damage so it would be up to your business terms and conditions to pursue compensation. For example, you are a wedding planner and have delivered 50% of the agreed services before the wedding was cancelled by the couple. COVID-19 is another reminder of why your wedding and event business needs solid terms and conditions.

Having said that, if you were unable to use your business premises due to restrictions imposed by a public authority during the period of insurance following an occurrence of a notifiable human disease such as COVID-19, you may be able to claim for business interruption providing you meet the requirements detailed in your policy wordings.

What if a public authority stipulates events such as weddings be cancelled, will I receive business interruption protection?

Business interruption only covers your office or business premises, which is the space you occupy at the premises shown in your insurance schedule located in a building of standard construction unless otherwise notified to us and to which we have confirmed our agreement.

If a public authority enforced the cancellation of events of a certain size such as weddings, the venue may be able to claim for business interruption because it affects their business premises.

On the other hand, wedding professionals that are not employed under the venue’s payroll cannot claim for business interruption because it is not their business premises that are being affected by the enforced closure.

Again, we strongly recommend you contact your insurance provider and refer to your own policy documents to clarify the levels of cover.

My couples are asking me about how COVID-19 affects their wedding insurance. What do I say?

Advise them to consult their insurance documents which are sent at the time of purchase or contact the provider of their wedding insurance policy to clarify their cover.

Am I protected if I infect someone?

Public liability covers injury or damage caused to third party persons or property. Our public liability includes claims brought against an insured person where a third party sues them for a breach of duty due to their infection with COVID-19.

The claimant would have to prove that they had contracted it directly from the defendant rather than from any other source and the defendant had been negligent.

Concluding thoughts

Your terms and conditions are essential to the protection of your business from a range of risks. COVID-19 is just the latest example of such unmitigated risk. That’s why you should make sure your terms are watertight. If you need help, consider reading our article about why your wedding and event business needs solid terms and conditions.