The government recently announced it partnered with Lloyds to offer a new scheme worth over £750 million to help give the live events industry a much needed boost after suffering financial loss at the hands of the pandemic.
The government recently announced it partnered with Lloyds to offer a new scheme worth over £750 million to help give the live events industry a much needed boost after suffering financial loss at the hands of the pandemic.
The new scheme, named the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, will see event insurers receiving guarantees from the government enabling them to offer products covering organisers for their event should it be forced to shut down due to state restrictions in response to the pandemic.
Concerns about the lack of coverage for COVID-19-related event cancellations have been swirling since the pandemic started in 2020, which is why we’re welcoming new information about available support.
Here’s what we know so far...
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The scheme will be available from September 2021 and will run for a year until the end of September 2022. There will also be a review of the scheme during the Spring of 2021.
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The scheme currently only applies to event cancellations due to government or local government lockdowns. For example, it wouldn't apply to situations such as the reintroduction of social distancing or for artists, crews and performers having to self-isolate.
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In the event of a cancellation claim, our understanding is that there will be an initial excess of 5% for the claimant to pay (the government would pay 95%).
Here at Event Insurance Services, we have a very close relationship with Beazley, one of the few insurers who have access to the £750 million event insurance fund, and are their chosen partners for cancellation cover. We hope that this scheme will offer our clients and those working in the live events industry more confidence to invest in and plan future events in a world continuing to live with COVID-19.
Why is this important?
Event organisers have been campaigning for a scheme which covers them against financial loss due to cancellations during the pandemic for quite some time now. The UK has seen a number of events cancelled due to organisers being unable to obtain the insurance they need to protect them.
With the live events sector being worth over £70 billion each year to the economy and supporting over 700,0000 jobs (GOV.UK), the scheme is certainly a step in the right direction for getting the UK back on its feet.
Event organisers who have been worried about future lockdowns will now have peace of mind knowing that should another lockdown be announced, they will be financially covered.
You can find more information about the current plans for the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme at GOV.UK. We’ll keep you posted with any further updates on the scheme. In the meantime, we welcome any queries you may have and will do our best to answer them. Please feel free to contact our team today.