Insurance: How Covered Are You and Your Meetings?
One of the best lessons I ever learned was from Jeff King, Esq., who, for years, was the attorney for the Convention Liaison (now Industry) Council. In a lawsuit over a client’s cancellation of a meeting — where the client and I, individually, and my company were all sued — we hired Jeff to defend our case. He said, “It doesn’t matter if you are right or wrong, you can still be sued.”
Because of that, because of others’ research and work in this field, and because of what I observe, I have and will continue write and teach more about meeting and event risk and how to best manage it. No matter how much Tyra Hilliard, others and I teach and write and speak about it, it doesn’t seem that individuals and the industry understand that what we do is risky business*.
Given that there is still not sufficient planning around meeting and event risk, it astounds me when I hear people and groups question whether or not to insure aspects of their meetings and events. There is a belief that if contracts contain the necessary clauses (do yours?) there is no need to have insurance or that certainly whatever the venue has must cover you and your meeting. Here are three resources (the August 2016 edition of Friday With Joan, a free contracts webinar I recently led for Meetings Today, and another free contracts webinar hosted by Tyra Hilliard) that provide plenty of information to consider.
Also consider these "what ifs":
An “Act of God” (force majeure) occurs just before your meeting commences causing any number of participants from arriving and the meeting goes on because you’re there, and key players and others have already arrived. You’ve given your F&B guarantees. You believe that force majeure will no doubt be in effect. It is my understanding that force majeure or “impossibility” clauses cover what happens if the entire meeting is stopped or if the occurrence — say a storm — is in the destination and not en route. What costs might you incur that might be covered if you had insurance?
Your main stage speaker is a no-show or (worse or better?!) does not deliver what people expect from what is said and your meeting registration information contains a clause where if people aren’t satisfied, they may ask for a refund of their registration fee. Now what?
Someone over-drinks before attending an event that’s part of your meeting and then drinks again — with the drink tickets you thought protected you because you only gave each person two — and injures themselves or others. Who and what is covered for any damages to people and property? In the event of a lawsuit?
You or a speaker, exhibitor or entertainer play music for which you didn’t secure music licensing agreements and you’re sued. How will you — either as an in-house planner or third party who made the arrangements — be covered for legal costs?
You’re a third party who helped a client select a site that they later cancel. If you work on commission, what now? If as a result of the cancellation, the client is sued as are you for what is believed your role — whether it was booking a site that was, for the meeting, under construction, or didn’t have AEDs and in your RFP you didn’t ask and someone is harmed, or … well, I’m guessing you can fill in the blanks.
Can you, in contracts or with insurance, cover and be protected from all contingencies? I doubt it. Things happen — like laws that are passed in states like North Carolina causing groups to cancel or move their meetings, or the hotel, at the last minute (which could be two weeks for some or the day before for others) changes your meeting space or there’s a strike at an airport causing extreme delays and people turn around and go home versus coming to the meeting or ... you fill in the blank.
Yes, there are laws that cover some contingencies. And still, there are costs involved that without insurance may not be able to be restored.
I’m not an insurance expert or a lawyer. All I can do is advise clients and readers and students to learn more about how they, individually, are covered, and by whom in booking and/or executing a meeting or event, and that they investigate with their risk management and legal advisors what they need to cover.
My gratitude to Lou Novick of the Novick Group in Rockville, Md., an insurance broker who knows meetings, for adding his knowledge to the sidebar of this blog. Lastly, this bulletin from Narcotics Anonymous is a good primer on why having liability insurance, including for events, is a good idea.
P.S. Here's a couple bonus resources that also may be worth your time:
An article from ASAE on event cancellation insurance (may require registration).
White papers from Novick Group, a nonprofit insurance provider (this is not an endorsement of service, just some relevant information on insurance).
And, of course, don't forget to check out the December 2016 edition of Friday With Joan for which this blog was written, if you haven't yet done so.
*If you’re in the San Diego area, I’ll be leading a session on identifying risk and developing a contingency plan on Dec. 15 for the Calfornia Society of Association Executive's (CALSAE's) f2f meeting. I'll be leading the discussion via livestream and you must be physically present at the event to participate. Learn more here.
As always, the views expressed are my own and may not necessarily express those of Meetings Today and/or Stamats Communications (its publisher).
- See more at: http://www.meetingstoday.com/Blog/TabId/330/PostId/290/insurance-how-covered-are-you-and-your-meetings.aspx#sthash.De1wVclB.dpuf
Reported by: Meetingstoday.com
Because of that, because of others’ research and work in this field, and because of what I observe, I have and will continue write and teach more about meeting and event risk and how to best manage it. No matter how much Tyra Hilliard, others and I teach and write and speak about it, it doesn’t seem that individuals and the industry understand that what we do is risky business*.
Given that there is still not sufficient planning around meeting and event risk, it astounds me when I hear people and groups question whether or not to insure aspects of their meetings and events. There is a belief that if contracts contain the necessary clauses (do yours?) there is no need to have insurance or that certainly whatever the venue has must cover you and your meeting. Here are three resources (the August 2016 edition of Friday With Joan, a free contracts webinar I recently led for Meetings Today, and another free contracts webinar hosted by Tyra Hilliard) that provide plenty of information to consider.
Also consider these "what ifs":
An “Act of God” (force majeure) occurs just before your meeting commences causing any number of participants from arriving and the meeting goes on because you’re there, and key players and others have already arrived. You’ve given your F&B guarantees. You believe that force majeure will no doubt be in effect. It is my understanding that force majeure or “impossibility” clauses cover what happens if the entire meeting is stopped or if the occurrence — say a storm — is in the destination and not en route. What costs might you incur that might be covered if you had insurance?
Your main stage speaker is a no-show or (worse or better?!) does not deliver what people expect from what is said and your meeting registration information contains a clause where if people aren’t satisfied, they may ask for a refund of their registration fee. Now what?
Someone over-drinks before attending an event that’s part of your meeting and then drinks again — with the drink tickets you thought protected you because you only gave each person two — and injures themselves or others. Who and what is covered for any damages to people and property? In the event of a lawsuit?
You or a speaker, exhibitor or entertainer play music for which you didn’t secure music licensing agreements and you’re sued. How will you — either as an in-house planner or third party who made the arrangements — be covered for legal costs?
You’re a third party who helped a client select a site that they later cancel. If you work on commission, what now? If as a result of the cancellation, the client is sued as are you for what is believed your role — whether it was booking a site that was, for the meeting, under construction, or didn’t have AEDs and in your RFP you didn’t ask and someone is harmed, or … well, I’m guessing you can fill in the blanks.
Can you, in contracts or with insurance, cover and be protected from all contingencies? I doubt it. Things happen — like laws that are passed in states like North Carolina causing groups to cancel or move their meetings, or the hotel, at the last minute (which could be two weeks for some or the day before for others) changes your meeting space or there’s a strike at an airport causing extreme delays and people turn around and go home versus coming to the meeting or ... you fill in the blank.
Yes, there are laws that cover some contingencies. And still, there are costs involved that without insurance may not be able to be restored.
I’m not an insurance expert or a lawyer. All I can do is advise clients and readers and students to learn more about how they, individually, are covered, and by whom in booking and/or executing a meeting or event, and that they investigate with their risk management and legal advisors what they need to cover.
My gratitude to Lou Novick of the Novick Group in Rockville, Md., an insurance broker who knows meetings, for adding his knowledge to the sidebar of this blog. Lastly, this bulletin from Narcotics Anonymous is a good primer on why having liability insurance, including for events, is a good idea.
P.S. Here's a couple bonus resources that also may be worth your time:
An article from ASAE on event cancellation insurance (may require registration).
White papers from Novick Group, a nonprofit insurance provider (this is not an endorsement of service, just some relevant information on insurance).
And, of course, don't forget to check out the December 2016 edition of Friday With Joan for which this blog was written, if you haven't yet done so.
*If you’re in the San Diego area, I’ll be leading a session on identifying risk and developing a contingency plan on Dec. 15 for the Calfornia Society of Association Executive's (CALSAE's) f2f meeting. I'll be leading the discussion via livestream and you must be physically present at the event to participate. Learn more here.
As always, the views expressed are my own and may not necessarily express those of Meetings Today and/or Stamats Communications (its publisher).
- See more at: http://www.meetingstoday.com/Blog/TabId/330/PostId/290/insurance-how-covered-are-you-and-your-meetings.aspx#sthash.De1wVclB.dpuf
Reported by: Meetingstoday.com
