What Insurance Should You Ask an Event Supplier For?

If you are booking suppliers for a fete, a festival, a school fair or a corporate day, someone is eventually going to ask you whether they are insured. This is a short, non-technical guide to what to ask for and what the answers mean, written by a supplier who gets asked constantly.

To be clear: this is general guidance from experience, not legal or insurance advice. If you are running a large public event, take proper advice from your insurer.

The two documents to ask for, every time

1. Public liability insurance certificate

This covers the supplier if they injure a member of the public or damage property. Ask for the actual certificate, not a statement that they have it. It should show the insurer, the policy number, the cover amount and the expiry date — check that last one, because expired certificates get sent out more often than you would think.

How much cover? £1 million is common at the small end. Many councils, schools and festivals require £5 million. £2 million — which is what we carry — sits comfortably in the middle and satisfies most requirements, but check what your venue or local authority specifies before you book anybody, because it is a rule you cannot negotiate on the day.

2. A written risk assessment

This should be specific to your event and your venue, not a generic template with the name changed. It should identify what could realistically go wrong, and what the supplier does to prevent it.

A good one is short, plain and obviously written by someone who has run the activity. A bad one is four pages of boilerplate that never mentions your site.

Other things worth asking about

• Employers' liability — required by law if the supplier has employees. Sole traders working alone are generally exempt.
• Staff training and ratios. For anything with a physical risk, ask how many staff supervise how many participants. Ours is one trained marshal per participant, for the whole of their turn.
• Minimum age, and why. A supplier who can explain the reasoning has thought about it. One who says "however old you like" has not.
• Equipment inspection — particularly for anything inflatable, mechanical or that people climb on.
• Food hygiene rating, if they are serving food.

Warning signs

• Reluctance, or "I'll send it nearer the time"
• A certificate that expires before your event date
• A risk assessment that could apply to literally any event anywhere
• No written quote, only a verbal price
• A cover amount below what your venue requires, with a suggestion that nobody checks

None of these mean the supplier is bad at what they do. They do mean that if something goes wrong, the problem lands on you.

When to ask

At enquiry stage, not the week before. It takes a well-organised supplier about thirty seconds to send both documents, and it tells you a great deal about how the day will go.

For what it is worth, we send our £2 million public liability certificate and a risk assessment written for your specific venue out with every quote, without being asked. Partly because it is the right way round, and partly because we would rather you compared us on that than on price alone.