PLAN BEFORE YOU HIT THE STAGE
Summer is a great time to hit the road in support of your latest release or book a string of fun outdoor gigs and festival slots to get your music in front of big crowds. The weather’s great, audiences are primed to go see live music, and summer vacation means lots of available time for folks to head to your shows.
But before summer performance season rolls around (it’ll be here before you know it), NOW is the time to get prepared, and we’re not just talking about set lists and tour bus rentals. We mean making sure you have the proper coverage in the event something goes wrong out on stage – we’re talking insurance.
OK, so liability insurance for performers and entertainers might not be as cool a topic as electric guitars and amps, but it’s important to be knowledgeable on what you need BEFORE you need it. You don’t want to get caught out on the road in a sticky situation where you’re on the hook (and out of pocket) for medical expenses or property damage caused by you or your bandmates – even if the results of your actions were accidental.
HOW TO GET STARTED WITH INSURANCE
First things first, if this is your first summer season performing live, you don’t want to be blindsided by insurance requirements presented to you by venues or concert organizers who are booking you. Know in advance what the insurance requirements for performers are and talk to a qualified insurance agent or representative to go over your specific needs, a coverage plan and types of policies to fulfill your obligations to the venue or festival.
Most booking agents, promoters and venue managers will let you know in advance what they’re requirements are for performers, AND what types of insurance the venue or festival grounds themselves are carrying. BUT don’t assume anything, always ASK FIRST what the requirements are, make sure they are clearly written in any performance agreements or contracts, and then ensure you are meeting those policy requirements IN ADVANCE of any deadlines in case there is and policy processing time that needs to be accounted for.
The good folks at K&K Insurance have been doing this for decades, so they are experts when it comes to educating live performers about policy types, coverage options and plans tailored to their needs. You can even apply for insurance online – for solo performers grab an application or get the ball rolling now at https://www.kandkinsurance.com/programs/event-insurance/performer-insurance
WHAT TYPE OF POLICY DO I NEED?
What you’re looking for here is some form of liability insurance. If you’re new to all this, no worries. That simply means covering you in case of some common types of damages occur – this is a broad umbrella term for things like property damage or bodily injuries, which are the most common things that come into play when discussing liability insurance.
Both should be pretty self-explanatory, but basically we’re talking about injuries sustained by either staff members of the event or attendees that you’ve been directly linked to, or damage to equipment, stages, or even the grounds and buildings/structures of the event and venue itself.
LEARN MORE ABOUT COMMON INSURANCE MISCONCEPTIONS HERE
WHAT DO I DO IF SOMETHING BAD HAPPENS?
Again, to be clear, your involvement in these potential incidents doesn’t have to be malicious or purposeful in order to be implicated in responsibility – many insurance claims arise from the unthinkable happening, not premeditated destruction or acts of physical violence that were thought out ahead of time.
In fact, accidents are likely the most common situations claim agents see come across their desks. So, if you do find yourself responsible for bodily harm, medical expenses or property damage, even ACCIDENTALLY, take a breath and know that if you planned ahead and got the right insurance policy before the busy touring season began, a lot of potential headaches will be avoided for you right off the bat.
For starters (once you’ve taken some deep breaths), contact your insurance provided or agent right away and let them know the full situation. Go over your policy and coverage terms with them so they can guide you to the best solution and make all affected parties whole again after whatever incident has taken place. DO NOT attempt to rectify and situations or negotiate anything on your own. THIS IS WHY YOU HAVE A POLICY. Allow your provider or agent handle all the communications between parties and any and all settlement discussions related to the incident. Not only are you not qualified to do this, but it’s what you’re paying for — specifically the expertise and knowledge (and legal authority), to handle these tricky situations on your behalf.
Making mistakes at this stage can only lead to further trouble, so if something does happen out on the road, let the experts handle it. Trust us on this one.
WHAT’S NOT COVERED
This article is specifically meant to get you thinking about liability insurance as a live entertainer and performer, so that’s exclusively in the domain of damages. Property, venues grounds and items getting broken, destroyed or otherwise damaged in a physical sense. Or, bodily injury or harm caused by you on another human being – we’re talking things like cuts, bruises, broken limbs, and other types of physical effects of your actions, negligence, etc. In simple terms, getting hurt (or worse) in a physical sense that requires some sort of medical attention and expense, things that YOU are responsible for.
What’s not covered in a liability policy are things like theft, fire, flood, and acts of God that would be the domain for other types of insurance policies. For instance, you may want to separately insure your instruments against damage or theft, which would be another type of policy altogether and something you could talk to your current homeowner’s policy issuer or renter’s policy issuer about pursuing.
And of course, if you’re touring in a vehicle, you’ll want insurance to cover that vehicle against damages as well (in fact it’ll likely be requires, as well, before you take the van or bus off the lot). Just like you’d have a car insurance policy on your personal car when you’re not on the road, your touring vehicle will need a policy that’s separate from any liability policy in place to cover your actions during your live performance.
LERN MORE ABOUT HOW MUCH INSURANCE TO GET HERE.
HAVE FUN, BUT BE PREPARED
All this talk about property damage and bodily injury isn’t meant to scare you, and in fact we hope you’ll never actually have to dig up that policy and put to to use to cover claims at all. The best case scenario is that your tour goes smoothly and you don’t have to interact with your insurance agent again until the next time you perform out live.
Rather, this is meant to be a reality check – the world’s a funny place and sometimes things happen that we don’t plan for or expect, and in those scenarios it’s best to be prepared so that things can go as smoothy as possible in the aftermath of such events, as opposed to us causing ourselves even greater stress and undue panic because we’ve been caught unprepared and ill-advised on how to handle these awful types of situations.
Rest assured, there are experts to help you through the process and alleviate that stress, so talk to an agent today about your needs or get started applying online at https://www.kandkinsurance.com/programs/event-insurance/bands-and-performing-groups-insurance for bands and https://www.kandkinsurance.com/programs/event-insurance/performer-insurance for solo musicians and performers.
Have fun this summer performance season, but be sure to stay safe and stay protected — we’ll see you on stage!
