farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Need to get insurance for 1 gig, cheapest quote so far is £146pa. Anyone know of anywhere you can get 24hr cover at a reasonable rate, or cheaper annual cover, if I could get eqpt cover as well that would be useful. Cheap is good here as it's a event requirement. Cheers J Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyJay Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='farmer61' post='480679' date='May 6 2009, 09:38 AM']Need to get insurance for 1 gig, cheapest quote so far is £146pa. Anyone know of anywhere you can get 24hr cover at a reasonable rate, or cheaper annual cover, if I could get eqpt cover as well that would be useful. Cheap is good here as it's a event requirement. Cheers J[/quote] I haven't got any yet but I'll need some for a single gig we've got next year. I did a bit of research about this and someone on here (who's name escapes me) suggested if you insure a small amount of gear (£50 worth) then some companies throw in public liability for free. I found that musicguard did the best deal, if you insure up to £500 worth of gear you can get £1m liability thrown in all for £26 a year. I've just checked and if you need £5m cover then it's about the same as your quote above. So not a lot of help for you then! Sorry! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stingrayfan Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 £146? That's crazy. Surely it's up to the event to sort this, rather than you guys? It's a sad state of affairs that as musicians we're being asked for this sort of stuff. That and PAT testing. It's all "pass the buck" compo culture. People don't seem to have accidents anymore, it's always 'someone else's' fault! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fretmeister Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 That is cheap. Although IIRC you could join the MU for about that for the year - and get the cover included. Look at it this way - I'm a lawyer and I do professional negligence cases, liability arguments, insurance litigation etc. If your amp blows up and someone is hurt, not only will the band be paying their damages... they'll also be paying the injured person's legal fees. My firm charges £183+vat per hour for my services. (I don't get it of course - the partners do). On the other hand you might burn down their entire building and be sued for the re-build and loss of business.... So - £140 ish is well worth it. TBH I wouldn't play in a regularly gigging band without liability cover these days. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HeavyJay Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='fretmeister' post='480697' date='May 6 2009, 09:53 AM']That is cheap. Although IIRC you could join the MU for about that for the year - and get the cover included. Look at it this way - I'm a lawyer and I do professional negligence cases, liability arguments, insurance litigation etc. If your amp blows up and someone is hurt, not only will the band be paying their damages... they'll also be paying the injured person's legal fees. My firm charges £183+vat per hour for my services. (I don't get it of course - the partners do). On the other hand you might burn down their entire building and be sued for the re-build and loss of business.... So - £140 ish is well worth it. TBH I wouldn't play in a regularly gigging band without liability cover these days.[/quote] I'm sure that's all sound advice but my eye is always drawn to MC Hammer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Can I ask why it has to be enough cover for £5M......... I always get asked for our PLI cert for most of the venues we play for weddings and corporate but ours is up to £1m and that seems adequate for most venues. Jay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tombboy Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='crez5150' post='480702' date='May 6 2009, 09:58 AM']Can I ask why it has to be enough cover for £5M......... I always get asked for our PLI cert for most of the venues we play for weddings and corporate but ours is up to £1m and that seems adequate for most venues. Jay[/quote] If anyone (or more than one) dies in a fire which is proven to have been caused by your faulty equipment then the families of the victims are sure as hell going to want more than £1m in compensation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jakenewmanbass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Join the MU and they send you a certificate immediately and the cover, up to 10M, is automatically in place. Also there is an equipment insurance scheme where the first £1000 (i think) is free, plus they are a great resource for advice and will ultimately handle any issues you have of a legal nature, including recovering unpaid fees. I've been a member since 1991. Well worth it in my view. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I rang the MU's insurer about this last week when I was looking for PLI. I wanted to know if the whole band was covered by the £10M which was essentially in my name as the MU member if I joined and was told that if the accident is caused by another member of the band, and they're sued individually, then the policy won't cover them. The musicguard thing with the free PLI sounds tempting though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='crez5150' post='480702' date='May 6 2009, 09:58 AM']Can I ask why it has to be enough cover for £5M......... I always get asked for our PLI cert for most of the venues we play for weddings and corporate but ours is up to £1m and that seems adequate for most venues. Jay[/quote] That's what the venue has asked for..........wouldn't mind but it's an old hotel, it's not even new Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='john_the_bass' post='480741' date='May 6 2009, 10:52 AM']I rang the MU's insurer about this last week when I was looking for PLI. I wanted to know if the whole band was covered by the £10M which was essentially in my name as the MU member if I joined and was told that if the accident is caused by another member of the band, and they're sued individually, then the policy won't cover them. The musicguard thing with the free PLI sounds tempting though.[/quote] What if all the eqpt is owned by you!!!!! (sort of!!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_the_bass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Well - yes, there is that, however they suggested that if the drummer was to lose a stick and blind somebody (how unlikely....) the drummer would be liable and the insurance wouldn't cover him Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gilmour Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 +1 on the MU, just join and then you're all sorted, also I think that I read somewhere eqpt. insurance had gone up to £2k through them, and of course you get legal advice and support etc. [quote name='stingrayfan' post='480695' date='May 6 2009, 09:52 AM']It's a sad state of affairs that as musicians we're being asked for this sort of stuff. That and PAT testing. It's all "pass the buck" compo culture. People don't seem to have accidents anymore, it's always 'someone else's' fault! [/quote] Unfortunately that is the society in which we all live. Every other business is required to have all the relevant insurance and safe equipment, and I'm not sure that's such a bad thing. Just because we're musicians doesn't mean that we should be exempt from this, it's only good practice, and if we want to be taken seriously as musicians you have to have this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Check what the actual requirements of the venue are as there can be one critical difference, and I've just finished arranging insurance for a future event of ours. MU cover, and indeed that of my normal PL insurance (Musicguard), only covers you whilst you are on stage and performing. It doesn't cover claims incurred as a result of the 'event' itself. ie, you are fine if some t&at pulls a speaker on top of himself, but if there is a wider problem then you are stuffed. This is critical if you count as the promoter/organiser, rather than just being a band. I got £5m cover for the 'event' through a broker. PM me if you want the details. Think it was £196 in total. If this isn't the requirement, and you just need to cover yourself whilst playing then I expanded my normal £1m cover to £5 for £50 for 24hrs through Musicguard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='coasterbass' post='480846' date='May 6 2009, 12:11 PM']Check what the actual requirements of the venue are as there can be one critical difference, and I've just finished arranging insurance for a future event of ours. MU cover, and indeed that of my normal PL insurance (Musicguard), only covers you whilst you are on stage and performing. It doesn't cover claims incurred as a result of the 'event' itself. ie, you are fine if some t&at pulls a speaker on top of himself, but if there is a wider problem then you are stuffed. This is critical if you count as the promoter/organiser, rather than just being a band. I got £5m cover for the 'event' through a broker. PM me if you want the details. Think it was £196 in total. If this isn't the requirement, and you just need to cover yourself whilst playing then I expanded my normal £1m cover to £5 for £50 for 24hrs through Musicguard[/quote] Is this cover for you or the whole band?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='farmer61' post='480869' date='May 6 2009, 12:26 PM']Is this cover for you or the whole band??[/quote] Thats for the whole band, acting as the promoter, organiser and performer for the night. Its sometimes worth questioning the venue over the need for such large PL cover. The venue that I've booked for later this year originally required £10m which is sooooo expensive to get. I queried this and they dropped it to £5m. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 Best I've come up with so far is each individual band member insuring for £500 of eqpt (home cover) which gives you £1m liabilty insurance for £26. The venue is happy seeing 5 individual policy certificates as long as they add up to £5m in total. 5 x £26 =£130. Blimey, bloody minefield this one. Interestingly the venue hasn't asked for PAT certificates. Anyone got anything better......MU seem to only insure the individual...am I wrong here??? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonny-lad Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 +1 for the MU cover, even though it only covers you as an individual. I've got this and I'm covered for whatever band I play in...I try to encourage everyone in bands I'm a part of to join the MU just for the free liability insurance and free instrument insurance - some people are reluctant because of the cost of being in the MU, but if a band needs insurance, it'll have to be paid for in one way or another. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
coasterbass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='farmer61' post='480961' date='May 6 2009, 01:28 PM']Best I've come up with so far is each individual band member insuring for £500 of eqpt (home cover) which gives you £1m liabilty insurance for £26. The venue is happy seeing 5 individual policy certificates as long as they add up to £5m in total. 5 x £26 =£130. Blimey, bloody minefield this one. Interestingly the venue hasn't asked for PAT certificates. Anyone got anything better......MU seem to only insure the individual...am I wrong here???[/quote] Yep, thats what we have for our 'standard' cover. 6 x £1m cover. The drawback is that this doesn't cover the 'event' or give you cover for anything whilst offstage, as mentioned in my first post, but its been good enough/cheap enough to see us through the past years. Make sure you add the band's name in to the 'trading as' field when applying for the cover - that way they are all linked together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farmer61 Posted May 6, 2009 Author Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='coasterbass' post='481006' date='May 6 2009, 02:07 PM']Make sure you add the band's name in to the 'trading as' field when applying for the cover - that way they are all linked together.[/quote] Good shout, I'll look out for that. Thanks for your help!!! As we've been asked to perform I'm assuming we're not the promoter/event organiser, mind you the venue didn't seem very helpful so perhaps we are..... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crez5150 Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='coasterbass' post='481006' date='May 6 2009, 02:07 PM']Yep, thats what we have for our 'standard' cover. 6 x £1m cover. The drawback is that this doesn't cover the 'event' or give you cover for anything whilst offstage, as mentioned in my first post, but its been good enough/cheap enough to see us through the past years. Make sure you add the band's name in to the 'trading as' field when applying for the cover - that way they are all linked together.[/quote] +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MacDaddy Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 [quote name='jonny-lad' post='480972' date='May 6 2009, 01:39 PM']+1 for the MU cover, even though it only covers you as an individual. I've got this and I'm covered for whatever band I play in...I try to encourage everyone in bands I'm a part of to join the MU just for the free liability insurance and free instrument insurance - some people are reluctant because of the cost of being in the MU, but if a band needs insurance, it'll have to be paid for in one way or another.[/quote] The MU subsciption is cheaper than any insurance premium I've found - and reading the small print to find a policy that actually pays if things get nicked/damaged! I'm getting the student rate which is less than a fiver a month. I think that is amazing value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jobiebass Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 Im self employed and have to pay Pub Lia insurance, its about £360 I pay and thats the cheepist ive got for 1mil cover, im pretty sure it'll cover me for other things too as I work in the financial services area..... But does this mean I wont have to bother with more insurance for gigs etc? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blink Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 +1 for the MU. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsmith Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 (edited) [quote name='Jobiebass' post='481124' date='May 6 2009, 04:26 PM']Im self employed and have to pay Pub Lia insurance, its about £360 I pay and thats the cheepist ive got for 1mil cover, im pretty sure it'll cover me for other things too as I work in the financial services area..... But does this mean I wont have to bother with more insurance for gigs etc?[/quote] I very much doubt that you would be covered as there is a different set of risks involved (assuming you're not using the likes of dry ice, lasers or massive speakers in your financial services work). Actually in your line of work you might have contacts that can help. Edited May 6, 2009 by jonsmith Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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