Fireworks Insurance: What We Cover

Our primary cover is Public Liability. However, Employers Liability, Event Equipment Insurance and Event Cancellation Insurance are available upon specific request.  

Each of these can cover various problems which could occur if you are organising a display.

Public Liability

This is our most requested cover. It is a cover often taken out to satisfy the needs of your venue or local authority.

What we cover

Under our Public liability, we cover accidental bodily injury which occurs to a member of the public, or accidental damage to third party property, if it is proven to be because of your negligence from how you have organised and managed your display.

This can be either when you are setting up and have taken occupation of your venue, as well as when you event is open to visitors.

When it comes to our Fireworks insurance, we include the liability arising from fireworks and a bonfire.

Things we don’t cover

• Property damage claims which are under £750, as this is the excess of the policy.

• Damage or injuries which arise out of a deliberate act, vandalism or is malicious in nature

• Loss or damage to property which you own, have hired or which you are borrowing or holding in trust. This doesn’t include your hired venue, it relates to items such as marquees, plant equipment or staging.

• Damage or Injury caused using category 4 or 5 Fireworks, unless they are being released by a professional contractor.

• Damage or Injury caused by Sparklers.

Our policy also requires you to adhere to the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) regulations; as well as their instructions on how to run a safe display.

Employers Liability

An often-overlooked level of cover. Employers Liability is potentially relevant if you have any volunteers, helpers of employees who are working at your event and fall outside of the organising committee.  The employer’s liability is designed to cover you for your stewards and marshals.

What we cover

Under our Employers Liability, we provide cover for your legal liability to pay damages, claimants costs and expenses which arise as a result of an injury to anyone you employ at your event including temporary staff, volunteers or helpers. It doesn’t matter whether they are paid or unpaid however, they must be under your control and supervision at the time they sustain an injury.

Things we don’t cover

• Any liability in respect of, or arising from a road traffic accidents.

• The employees of any professional contractor or sub-contractor whose services you are employing; the company you are hiring should have their own cover in place. For example, professional security services, caterers or first aiders.

• Bodily injury claims or incidents arising from any person whilst handling, releasing, igniting, extinguishing, recovering, or transporting the following:

1. Live or spent Fireworks.
2. Bonfire(s).
3. Any other pyrotechnical device.

Event Equipment Insurance

Event Equipment relates to items which you are bringing to or hiring for your display, which do not come as part of the fixtures of fittings of the venue you are using.

What we cover

Our cover provides accidental damage, loss or theft cover for the event equipment you are legally responsible for (i.e. hired, leased or owned) throughout the duration of the event. 

Things we don’t cover

• Losses where the repair or replacement of the equipment is under £250 because this is the excess of the policy.

• Theft where there is no forcible or violent entry or exit from any site; or where items have been left unattended and unsecured.

• Damage arising from the faulty erection, use or dismantlement of temporary structures; for example, Marquees, stages or lighting rigs.

• Unexplained losses, discrepancies or stock taking shortages.

Event Cancellation Insurance

Organising an event can prove to be a costly and it is becoming increasingly common for people to look to try to recover their costs if the event they are organising or attending was forced to cancel.

What we cover

Our standard cover provides over for your irrecoverable costs incurred because of the unavoidable cancellation, abandonment, or postponement of your event for reasons beyond your control.

We also offer extensions to include certain circumstances which are normally not covered. Such as:

• Cancellation because of adverse weather conditions,

• Cancellation because of a key speaker, performer or person not attending the event,

• Coverage for lost revenue following the cancellation of your event,

These options can be requested and we can look to offer a policy which includes all or a combination of these eventualities.

Circumstances which you are not covered for

• The failure of a supplier where your booking arrangements are not confirmed in writing.

• Any situation which you are aware of, before you take out the insurance, which could be expected to or are likely to cause your event to cancel. This can include medical conditions, the current condition of the venue or the known financial troubles of a supplier.

• We cannot offer any weather-related protection if you are looking to take out a policy within fourteen days of the date your event setup starts.

If you are ever unsure about the coverage of the policy you can give us a call to discuss if your event or activity is something we can insure.

A full list of Dangerous Activities is listed within our policy wording, if you are having other attractions at the event i.e. a fun fair, inflatables, or any use of projectiles.

Our Policy wording also details all our exclusions and what we mean by certain terms. It is important that you read this before you opt to take out insurance with us to ensure that you are adequately covered for your event and that our insurance policy meetings your needs.