NOVEMBER | FEATURE
claim that the reinsurance scheme , at the very least during this winter period , could fall short of the mark .
Difficult to judge More than a month after the reinsurance scheme was opened , Reed says he has seen no evidence it has started to support the sector : “ I haven ’ t spoken to any of our members who have managed to get a quote as of yet . The big problem with the scheme is that there was all this fanfare about it being released and yet it ’ s not really out there in the wild yet , so it ’ s difficult to judge how well it will work yet .”
Reed ’ s concerns are not limited to the policy details , but also the cost . He says : “ If we look at potential uptake , we recently surveyed our members and just 5 % of respondents said they would most likely be taking out the reinsurance . I think this is a mix of the scheme ’ s limited use , but also the extraordinary cost , a 5 % excess on an event , when the average festival costs upwards of £ 6 million , is difficult to manage when you consider how fine the margins are for festivals already .”
The survey asked AIF members the following question : How likely are you to pursue quotes for the recently announced government Live Events Reinsurance Scheme for your next festival ?
In response , some 5 % said they were very likely , 21 % said “ likely ”, 58 % said “ not likely ” and 16 % said “ unsure ”.
Not exactly the most inspiring numbers , with only 26 % of respondents leaning on the positive side of the scale . This reticence was echoed by veteran music industry insurance specialist Martin Goebbels , who is business development specialist at Miller Insurance Services .
He said : “ I haven ’ t spoken to anyone yet who sees themselves as buying the cover for live shows , whether that be promoters or artists . It will be