You might be surprised by the number of wedding pros who are uninsured or underinsured. But, as more and more event venues are requiring liability insurance, wedding pros are starting to get a wakeup call. Things happen—injuries, unexpected weather, vendors who don’t show up—and you’ve probably experienced them all. Although you can’t control of the weather, you can protect your business from these unforeseen events. Find out what insurance is best suited for your business so you can keep your focus on the happy couple!
Business Insurance
No matter the size of you business, insurance will protect you from any unfortunate events that are out of your control. There are numerous business coverage policies and they can each be catered to your business’s individual needs.
Business insurance comes in several different forms:
- Business Interruption: This can compensate you for lost income and operating expenses if you are unable to operate following a disaster.
- Commercial Auto: Protects your business vehicle from any physical damage not covered by personal auto coverage.
- Business Property: This is insurance to protect office equipment, files, computers, tablets, and smartphones. It covers you for property damage due to fire, smoke, theft, vandalism, and certain weather events.
Do you operate a home-based business? Check your homeowners insurance to see if this is covered. Do you live in an area prone to earthquakes or floods? You might need to look into these as a separate coverage.
Liability Insurance
Many planners don’t think they need liability insurance because their agreements protect them. They think that because they don’t provide a physical product, they’re all good. The key word here being think. While you may not be responsible for the safety of guests at a venue, that doesn’t mean someone won’t name you in a lawsuit if they slip and fall or get injured. Whether you have your own office or work out of your home to host client meetings, you can be held liable for any potential injuries.
Errors and Omissions
Errors and omissions insurance, also known as professional liability insurance, covers any mistakes you may make. And we ALL make mistakes. Check with your insurer about customizing your coverage as many are not up to speed with what our industry does. If a client claims that the services you provided (or didn’t provide) were negligent and caused harm, errors and omissions insurance will protect you. Not correcting the mistake of another contracted wedding pro, putting the wrong time on an agreement, or ordering the wrong shade of linen can all be cause for pain and suffering, whether merited or not.
Are You Covered?
Review your current policy line by line to make sure you and your business are covered entirely. This is especially important if you’ve added on services or changed your business model since you originally purchased your policy. Have a serious conversation with your insurer to make sure that what you think you are covered for is actually covered by your policy. With people attempting to sue for anything and everything, you want to make sure you protect your business and your brand.
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