Insurance cover for live virtual events

Specialist insurer Beazley has launched a contingency policy designed to cover event organisers if a transmission failure disrupts or cancels a live virtual event.

Beazley said, “Streaming live events is not new but the policy responds to an increase in online events under social distancing during the pandemic. Our virtual events transmission policy supports organisers whose success relies on technology platforms providing seamless transmission or broadcasts to their audiences.”

If an event is cancelled due to transmission failure, the policy covers first-party losses including organisational costs, expenses, or gross revenue from advertising and ticket sales. The cover is available on a global basis and offers limits of up to $10m.

Beazley contingency underwriter Mark Symons said, “For a long time, many events, from business conferences through to music festivals, have had an online element, which has been covered by endorsement to an event insurance policy.

“However, as a result of the coronavirus we are seeing far more events either being reorganised or created from scratch for purely virtual audiences. Even with lockdown easing, we expect this to continue both in business and leisure as people continue to avoid unnecessary crowds,” he said. “These events are completely reliant on the technology working and a failure can be financially crippling, which means having robust insurance in place is a must.”

This standalone policy complements Beazley’s existing portfolio of cover including media and technology liability insurance, which offers protection for providers of technology platforms that are responsible for the online broadcast or streaming of live events.

Source: Asia Insurance Review