“ Should social distancing requirements be reinstated , rendering larger events financially unviable , it is unclear whether this will amount to an event being ‘ legally unable to happen ’.
“ Other very notable restrictions to the scheme are that it covers expenses only rather than any loss of profit . Where an events company only obtains revenue from an event taking place , this is likely to be a significant gap in coverage .
“ Furthermore , many UK companies operate events both nationally and internationally but only events physically taking place in the UK are covered by the scheme .”
Amanda Barnes , chief executive of Faversham House , said they had taken out cover – but knew the chance of a payout was “ very narrow ”.
Barnes said : “ The issue is it pays out on any cost in the eventuality a government body prevents your show going ahead . Even then , if it pays out in those circumstances it strikes me when I ’ ve asked questions of underwriters no one really has a handle on how a payout will work . There ’ s ambiguity if you were able to move the event to a different time slot .”
Faversham House did take out some cover for their events under the scheme , but Barnes accepts it may be money they ’ ll never see again . In December they had to cancel an event with just 22 hours notice because of Plan B restrictions and a lack of confidence in live events in the run up to Christmas .
Barnes explained : “ There was no point insuring that because it wouldn ’ t have paid out .
“ At the end of the day it comes down to each organiser ’ s appetite for risk .
“ This is where difficulty comes and it ’ s very much what I hear other organisers feel . If you have an event aimed at consumers , and the government is telling
“ There ’ s a lot of misinformation – even what DCMS has put out in their frequently asked questions – which is not widely available , are slightly counter to what we are hearing back from the underwriters .”
you to work from home , consumers have a different appetite for risk and consumers will decide if they want to go or not .
“ Quite a few consumer shows have gone ahead this month . But if the government is saying work from home and your event is business orientated it is totally illogical that people will think it ’ s safe to go to an event .
“ It ’ s a very conflicting message . We felt it was so close to Christmas it would be irresponsible to go ahead , however many mitigations and safety measures we put in place .
“ We did take out some insurance , not for the whole value of events , but a proportion . We have several large-scale events coming up in February and March that we have insured . As it transpires we have moved the February one to March and I ’ m not sure how that affects our insurance .
“ It ’ s of limited benefit , but it ’ s a matter of individual appetite for risk .
“ There ’ s a lot of misinformation – even what DCMS has put out in their frequently asked questions – which is not widely available , are slightly counter to what we are hearing back from the underwriters .”
“ There would be a naivety to insure an event for £ 500,000 and assume it ’ s covered for £ 500,000 . I ’ m not sure it will work like that . The assessors would want to look at whether you ’ d been able to move the venue at no cost . So , when we ’ ve put in insurance we looked at things we know are upfront costs we wont get back , like staff costs .
“ If it pays , it will cover a proportion . It might help .
“ It fills a need and it would have been very useful to have it back in march last year , because at that time when in lockdown it was very hard to have the confidence to go ahead .
“ We lobbied for it because in the long lead in to an event , you need to know if you can push the button now .
“ It ’ s almost worthless if there ’ s never going to be another lockdown , but then we were told there wouldn ’ t be another lockdown last time .
“ I would be astounded if the government doesn ’ t make money on this . They will definitely make money because I haven ’ t heard of one scenario where there has been a payout .
“ In lots of ways we ’ re hoping there isn ’ t any payouts if events can go ahead , but it is an extra cost .
“ And you cannot just take out pandemic insurance , you also have to take out general exhibition insurance . The cost is substantially more than you might expect .
The other thing to note , you pay 5 % insurance sum up front premium , and if worst happens you would pay out another 5 %. So if you insured £ 500,000 you would be in it for £ 50,000 . It ’ s quite expensive .
“ It took the government a long time to get there and they did get there . That has to be a big tick . It has limited use , but that might be because we are coming out of the pandemic .”
A DCMS spokesman said : “ Our Live Events Reinsurance Scheme , worth more than £ 800 million , gives event organisers the confidence to plan for the future and follows the unprecedented support the government has provided for the culture sector , including the £ 2bn Culture Recovery Fund .” EN
February — 43