Public Liability Insurance and Risk Assessments (UK) - HELP

Something has just come up in our group.

We play the occasion set for things like country fairs, school days etc. and we have just been asked about Public Liability Insurance.

I suppose it's in case someone trips over a music stand or something.

Along with this may well come a risk assessment that's required by the insurance company.

Anyone other clubs/groups in the UK come across this, and what did you have to do?

Steve in Kent said:

Something has just come up in our group.

We play the occasion set for things like country fairs, school days etc. and we have just been asked about Public Liability Insurance.

I suppose it's in case someone trips over a music stand or something.

Along with this may well come a risk assessment that's required by the insurance company.

Anyone other clubs/groups in the UK come across this, and what did you have to do?

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Seems strange to me, the promoters should have insurance for the event. I've never heard of a band being required to have insurance.

Hi, Steve in Kent,

I do not know about your country, but I think (Mark, mds uke or Jay, blueuke, might chime in) in the USA the venue typically has insurance. Of course, anyone can be sued.

An example that I know from first-hand experience (as an expert testimony): in a small Illinois town, four years ago, at a high school baseball game, a car was backing up in the school parking lot and the driver hit, at slow speed, a wooden telephone pole. It came down and, regrettably, a child and mother were underneath it; the child survived with spinal damage and surgery (but still ambulatory), and his mother died from being crushed.

I know that the injured parties sued the school (for not blocking the pole in the parking lot with barriers), the telephone company (for not having the pole secured), and the driver (for nudging the pole; apparently, the car had little damage). It was a huge case and a big settlement.

So, perhaps the venue will be less liable if everyone (even the uke group) has insurance? Some say that attorneys will target the limits of insurance liability, particularly for those without personal "deep pockets", so having all parties insured will "spread the risk". I could be wrong on this, though.

Honestly, with today's litigious society, I would not want to host people at any event (this is personally my mantra, not those of others). Recently, at a US college, there was a lawsuit over a fraternity hazing incident. We know one of the families involved. The victim--and he was a victim, no question there-- sued the college, the national fraternity, and personally sued the fraternity leaders, such as the President, VP, etc. (these are 18-year old dependent kids, so, in essence, their families were sued). Oh my! Long tentacles!

My wife was the president of her high school class and previously helped arrange class reunions; once we found out that organizers of such events can be sued, personally (e.g. drunk driving incident by a patron, falling telephone poles, etc.), she stepped down as president and organizer--in writing (paper trail).

Sad. I think in your country, if one sues and loses, the losing party pays for the litigation expenses of the acquitted, no? Sort of a checks-and-balances, right? I may be wrong. Here, it's a frigging wild, wild west free-for-all, with lottery mentality.

Alas! What is the law (by jurisdiction); what constitutes the music "industry;" what are the responsibilities/liabilities of promoters and performers; who is a professional versus an amateur in the music world; does one insure or not (and how much is enough); are band members employees or partners; and is there an assumed "risk" with music performance?

I'm surprised these questions don't come up more often. Put two (or more) people together for any reason and responsibilities/liabilities result, most "civil" and some "criminal." While folk may want to see music performances in a kumbaya viewpoint, the fact is that "stuff" can happen. Band members (and audience) trip-and-fall over equipment, faulty wiring starts fires or electrocutes someone, a string snaps and cuts the person next to the musician, a band member gets hurt and believes workmans' comp (or equivalent) should apply, and the list goes on and on.

While we enjoy our music, instruments and overall camaraderie, occasionally the "big bad world" makes itself known during it all. It just seems prudent to recognize the impacts of the "big bad world" and respond accordingly.

In the UK, performers are generally expected to have public liability insurance. Obviously different from the USA judging by earlier comments.

The band I play in get ours through the English Folk Dance and Song Society (EFDSS - http://www.efdss.org/ ) but we are a folk group and play mainly for ceilidhs. I arranged it and found the EFDSS very friendly and a pleasure to deal with. The other source we looked at was the Musicians Union. Their membership was a bit more expensive but if your style of music does not fit the EFDSS, then the Musicians Union are probably your best bet. What you get through affiliation to an organisation will have it's limits but for performances in small venues it's not usually a problem. The alternative is to search online for public liability insurance and get individual quotes but the chances are it will cost a lot more.