Beazley Launches Contingency Policy Covering Virtual Event Organizers

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

The insurer acknowledged that streaming live events is not new but the policy responds to an increase in online events under social distancing during the pandemic.

Beazley’s virtual events transmission policy supports organizers whose success relies on technology platforms providing seamless transmission or broadcasts to their audiences, said Beazley. If an event is cancelled due to transmission failure, the policy covers first-party losses including organizational costs, expenses, or gross revenue from advertising and ticket sales.

The cover is available on a global basis and offers limits of up to $10 million.

“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,” said Mark Symons, contingency underwriter at Beazley.

“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 added.

“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,” Symons said. “Beazley’s virtual events transmission policy is designed to provide simple and clear cover tailored for the risks involved with hosting virtual events.”

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: Beazley

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