Exhibition News March 2020 | Page 15

News Focus Are events insured against disease? Well, that depends on what cover the organiser has asked for. Event cancellation insurance can be purchased to cover an event organiser or rights holder for their potential loss of revenue or costs should an event not proceed as planned for any cause beyond their control. A short list of perils excluded are as standard but can be added back for an additional cost. These have either been the subject of previous large losses or need to be individually understood and rated depending on the event. One such excluded peril is ‘Communicable Disease’. This exclusion was added as standard as a reaction to the previous outbreaks of SARS and Swine Flu. Typically, immediately following an outbreak, cover becomes unavailable or costly. Once the situation has improved insurers will start offering cover again. For events in certain territories, such as China, it can be difficult to get any cover due to the historical experience. At the time of writing, insurers have not yet imposed a general exclusion for the ‘Wuhan coronavirus’ as they are waiting to see how the situation develops. We would however anticipate that in a relatively short time frame the additional rate charged for the cover will rise, and cover may be withdrawn all together. It is highly unlikely that this cover will be offered to any event taking place in China. Should it become necessary to prevent a pandemic from developing or getting worse, other governments or local authorities may issue similar restrictions which would cause affected events to be cancelled. Should WHO issue any international travel advisory, as it has in China, it causes widespread disruption to sport, leisure events and gatherings (including B2B events). Providing that the communicable disease extension has been purchased without any restriction for SARS or related diseases, it would be expected that a cancellation policy would respond to any loss occurring as a result of such a cancellation as this is clearly beyond the control of the organisers. Another factor that may affect events is the fear of travelling caused by the media coverage. In the face of such media coverage it is natural that anyone travelling Internationally to an event, particularly to an affected territory may hesitate. This can cause pressure on event organisers to cancel and may certainly affect their revenue depending on their ticket conditions. Such a cancellation is not covered by the insurance as it is not considered ‘necessary’ and ‘beyond the control’, and fear of communicable disease remains excluded even if the extension has been purchased. An event organiser may come under enormous pressure from their attendees under such circumstances. Good communication is absolutely vital. Event cancellation should always be purchased well in advance of the event to ensure the widest cover available, and early purchase doesn’t normally affect the price. This locks in the cover and ensures that when new circumstances arise, such as a new virus, the potential loss is covered. Where cover has not been purchased and new circumstances arise it can become difficult or more expensive to obtain the cover. EN Source: Coronavirus – Advice for Event Organisers by Howden UK Group March — 15