A Look At Insurance

Premiums are likely to increase. This year, three of Germany’s flagship festivals – Rock am Ring, Hurricane/Southside – had to either be suspended or aborted thanks to bad weather.

“Even the most thorough and professional preparation of an open air cannot protect it from severe weather, which unfortunately is inevitable in our latitudes. It remains to be seen, which repercussions the considerable damages will have on future insurance premiums. After all, the insurance companies have to pay for them,” said Prof. Jens Michow, president and CEO of Germany’s promoters’ association, bdv.

Folkert Koopmans of FKP Scorpio reckons that insurance companies may decide not to offer all-inclusive weather packages anymore. “At some point, every supplier, artist, staff member and fan may have to insure themselves,” Koopmans said.

As far as terrorism insurance is concerned, James Dodd of Integro Entertainment Insurance brokers told Pollstar: “There continues to be an accessible insurance market providing broad cover for event cancellation due to terrorism and political violence risks for festivals, events and for event promoters and touring artists/performers. To date, there is little evidence of insurers withdrawing from offering this type of insurance cover, though rates have increased of late and underwriters are exercising more scrutiny before providing quotations to clients. But the insurer market is open and receptive to business.

“Sadly, the frequency and severity of Terrorist activity appears to be increasing at this current time and so we will closely monitor the dynamics of the Terrorism insurance market in order to best service our clients’ needs.”