Treasury launches £750m insurance scheme to cover Covid-related live event cancellations
Costs associated with the cancellation of festivals, conferences and other live events due to Covid-related restrictions will be covered almost entirely by the government under a new £750m scheme.
The Treasury will team up with Llloyd’s of London to deliver the Live Events Reinsurance Scheme, which will give companies the option of purchasing cover from next month.
The scheme will run from September 2021 to September 2022, which will likely prompt speculation that Covid restrictions could be reintroduced at some point later this year or early next year.
Companies will be able to purchase cover alongside any insurance they currently have and will be able to make claims “for government-enforced cancellation due to the event being legally unable to happen due to government Covid restrictions”.
Chancellor Rishi Sunak said: “The events sector supports hundreds of thousands of jobs across the country, and I know organisers are raring to go now that restrictions have been lifted.
“But the lack of the right kind of insurance is proving a problem, so as the economy reopens I want to do everything I can to help events providers and small businesses plan with confidence right through to next year.”
The government will pay 95 per cent of each claim and insurers will pay 5 per cent to begin.
The government will eventually pay 100 per cent of each claim later in the scheme, however this date is not set.
A number of insurers that operate within the Lloyd’s insurance market like Arch, Beazley, Dale, Hiscox and Munich Re will be involved in the programme.
The scheme has been backed by Music UK, Live Nation UK and night time economy Adviser for Greater Manchester Sacha Lord.