If you are hosting a special event, you will likely be considering a general liability policy. This is a policy put in place to protect yourself and any liability against yourself or your organization if you are sued during the event.
Even if you don’t desire the insurance to protect yourself, you are likely going to be obligated to have it if you are holding your event on city, county, or even privately owned property. Many entities require you to have special event insurance policies to protect them from any lawsuits that may arise.
The most common limits that are required are $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. Aggregate means the maximum limit the policy will pay out for that term. Lesser limits are available if that is all that is required.
These policies generally have shorter terms which would cover only that event for it’s duration. There are longer terms available, up to 1 full year, if you plan on having multiple events throughout the year. In many cases each event does not need to be specifically scheduled. You should definitely check with your agent to ensure that you will be covered though.
Additional Insureds
You will likely be required to list the city, county, or individual company that owns the venue or property where the event is being held as additional insured. By listing these entities as additional insureds, they receive additional rights on the policy and they are typically notified in writing if your policy is ever to cancel.
Common Additional Insured Types
Below is a list of common entities that may require you to have general liability insurance for your hosted event.
- Venue owners (convention centers, concert halls, playhouses,etc.)
- City of Charlotte (or other city, county, state)
- Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department or other county police force
- Neighborhood condo or home association
- Apartment complex owner
- Church
- School district
What exactly are we talking about when we discuss special event liability insurance? Below is a list of some common events that may require liability insurance.
Common Types of Events Requiring Insurance
- Concerts
- Sports tournaments
- Beauty shows
- Auto shows
- Conventions
- Dog shows
- Fairs
- Flea markets
- Food tastings
- Hay rides
- Parades
- Poker runs
- Walkathons
- Races
- Music festivals
- Wedding receptions
- Religious meetings
- Craft fairs
- Festivals
- Dances
- Sports camps or clinics
- Christmas tree farms
When you call to request a quote for insurance on your event you will need to have certain information available. This type of policy can be quoted and issued very easy. In fact, it is much easier than most commercial general liability policies. You will need to provide some basic information though. In order to quote and issue your event insurance policy the company would need to know the following:
Items needed for quoting
- The event type
- Date and times of event
- Location of event
- Number of attendees
- How long the event will last
- Number of set-up and take-down days
- If there will be any beer, wine, or liquor served
- If there is private security at the event
- If there are amusement rides
- If there will be fireworks
- If there have been any prior losses or claims
Two common occurrences that are not covered under your special event liability insurance policy are liquor liability and workers compensation. We will discuss both briefly below. If you have a need for either you should discuss this with your insurance agent.
Liquor Liability
Liquor liability coverage is required when you sell, serve, or furnish alcoholic beverages to customers. Any liability that arises from over-serving patrons or selling to minors would be covered under a liquor liability policy. Your special event liability policy would limit or exclude such losses so make sure you have a liquor liability policy in place if you plan to sell alcohol at your event.
Workers Compensation
Workers compensation, also referred to as employers liability insurance, is an insurance policy that will cover your employees or subcontractors for any lost wages or medical payments from losses while they are hurt on the job. NC law requires that any business with 3 or more employees have a workers compensation policy in force. This includes independent contractors if they don’t have current coverage themselves. If you want to protect yourself for any employees injured while working at your event, you should purchase a workers comp policy to protect yourself since these losses will also be excluded from your special event liability policy.
I hope that this article has answered many of your questions regarding special event insurance. Please call us at 704-494-9495 to discuss any other questions you may have or to clarify anything that we have not discussed. We specialize in special event policies of all kinds throughout Charlotte and all areas of North Carolina.
We also have a limited market offering online quotes. If it doesn’t fit the target market of the companies on this rater, feel free to give us a call so we can shop our other markets.
