Liability Insurance

[ggibson189]

For those of you who perform at venues, what liability insurance company do you use?

[JonPR]

Here in the UK, playing in semi-pro bands in pubs - none at all!

It's understood, AFAIK, that the venues are insured. I've certainly never been insured personally, in 57 years of playing live gigs, and I'm fairly sure none of the bands I've played in (around 40) have been. One or two bands did belong to a booking agency, and I suspect they would have had some kind of insurance.

Otherwise, the only official certification I've ever had to get was for the safety of band's electrical equipment, and that was only for one venue. (Obviously that's worth checking for the musicians' own safety too!)

Mind you, in all those 57 years, there has never been one incident where us being uninsured might have been an issue. Maybe I've led a charmed life...

[jaymarsch]

An FYI - Performer Magazine had an article looking at the pros and cons of liability insurance for performing musicians. It was a while back but if you did a search on their website, it might prove informative.
Best,
Jayne

[Brent Hahn]

I've never carried liability insurance for gigs, or been in a band that did. But I think it's worth considering. Take a look at THIS ARTICLE.

While I don't think anything I'll do will result in people being stomped to death while rushing in to a venue, I do routinely play gigs where part of the drill is encouraging people to patronize the bar. You could call that part of doing your job, but you could also call it encouraging recklessness. What if "Last call for alcohol!" were to result in a drunk-driving tragedy? Personal injury lawyers often go after EVERYONE, whether the suit has merit or not. Again, worth considering.

[Gordon Currie]

I can imagine that a band with heavy/large/risky equipment (such as lighting rig, flown PA speakers, flash pots) might need liability insurance.

But for acoustic music? Where is the potential for damage?

I have never heard of acoustic acts needing this.

[rule18]

Our experience for years has been that we provide a certificate (that 's in effect only for the day of the gig) upon request from a venue (not all of them ask).

[jseth]

I believe that, in my 50+ years of performing, I have only been asked about liability insurance ONE TIME!

That was for a corporate gig (one of the few I've done). After researching the subject, I cam up with a price and told the folks hiring me that THEY would have to absorb the cost, along with my fee for the gig.

They got back to me pretty fast and said that their insurance would handle any liability involved...

This was in the late 80's/early 90's, well before the internet was ubiquitous. It wasn't easy to suss out the issue, but I remember that the cost was fairly high for a one performance certificate of coverage...

Never have had to have one at any other gig, never even asked about it. Not once.

[DavidE]

I'm currently using https://www.insurancecanopy.com/

Before I used https://www.specialtyinsuranceagency.com/

[frankmcr]

Originally Posted by jseth

They got back to me pretty fast and said that their insurance would handle any liability involved...

LOL. Corporate procedure Rule Number One: Try to pass on any expense you can to some poor sap you've hired.

[Brent Hahn]

Originally Posted by frankmcr

LOL. Corporate procedure Rule Number One: Try to pass on any expense you can to some poor sap you've hired.

In the day job, I used to have the SoCal movie and TV studio known as The Mouse as a client. "Used to," as in "never again." They required me to carry auto insurance covering their employees driving to and from my recording and production sessions. Among other things.