Public liability insurance

For injury or property damage, caused by your wedding planner business.

What’s typically covered by public liability insurance for wedding planners?

Claims against your business for:

• damage to someone’s property, because of your work
• an injury caused by your business activities
• accidental damage or injury caused by your employee, if you have one

If you do employ anyone, you’re usually required by law to have employers’ liability insurance too.

For example:

• during a planning meeting you spill a cup of coffee on some dress fabric your client is planning to use
• while visiting a venue with your client, you back your car into them, breaking a bone in their foot

What you’ll need additional cover for

• cover for the wedding itself, including cancellations and risks to attendees – you or your client may need specialist wedding event insurance for this

Read more about public liability insurance

Employers’ liability insurance

In case your employee gets sick or injured because of working for you.

What’s typically covered by employers’ liability insurance?

Claims against your business for:

• an employee suing you because they get injured or fall ill as a result of working for you (including temps and casual workers)

**Employers’ liability insurance is required by law if you have people working for you. Without it, you could be fined up to £2,500 a day for each employee.**

For example:

• your assistant trips over a loose floorboard in your office entrance, breaking their wrist
• you order the wrong type of desk chair for your pregnant employee, making their sciatica worse

Professional indemnity insurance

In case a client loses money because of your advice, services or designs.

What’s typically covered by professional indemnity insurance for wedding planners?

Claims against your business for professional negligence and breach of contract which causes your client a financial loss. This could include:

• advice you’ve given which turns out to be incorrect
• errors in your work which cost your client money

For example:

• you recommend a florist in the planning phase but their contract falls through a week before the wedding, costing your client money
• an oversight on your part pushes the client over budget by £5,000, but your contract agreed a set amount

Read more about professional indemnity insurance

Business and office equipment insurance

In case something happens to equipment like your laptop.

What’s typically covered by business and office equipment insurance?

• theft of the equipment you use to run your business
• accidental loss of your equipment
• flood, fire or accidental damage

For example:

• you accidentally drop your laptop during a meeting at the venue, damaging the screen
• your client is showing you a website on your phone, but drops it onto a stone floor

Read more about business and office equipment insurance

Legal expenses insurance

In case you’re faced with legal costs from running your wedding planning business.

What’s typically covered by legal expenses insurance?

• legal costs associated with day-to-day operations, like an employee dispute
• property damage, nuisance or trespass and associated legal costs
• HMRC, tax and compliance issues, if they come up
• includes a tax advice helpline, a 24/7 confidential legal helpline and crisis PR support to help you protect your reputation, as a sought-after wedding planner

For example:

• your client is refusing to pay your final invoice, claiming you haven’t fulfilled certain obligations in the contract
• an employee makes a claim against you for unfair dismissal, and you need to defend your legal rights

Read more about legal expenses insurance

Personal accident insurance

In case you or anyone you’ve covered has an accident at work, or elsewhere.

What’s typically covered by personal accident insurance?

• injury or death of anyone you’ve chosen to cover in your policy – whether this happens at work or elsewhere
• lost income, hospital bills or other medical costs associated with the accident

For example:

• you’re on your way to meet a supplier and trip on an open drain in the pavement, injuring your leg and delaying work for two days
• your assistant catches their hand in a cake mixer at the weekend, injuring two fingers

Read more about personal accident insurance

Which type of workers do I need insurance for?

Employers’ liability insurance is a legal requirement if you employ people.

If you have people working for you, including bona fide subcontractors (BFSC), labour-only subcontractors (LOSC), part-timers, or full-time staff, employers’ liability insurance is required by law.

Read on for our simplified guide to the difference between labour-only subcontractors and bona fide subcontractors.

Does wedding planning insurance cover my work correctly?

Make sure you’re picking the right cover to protect you properly. It’s important to know that if you have another trade or job, you’ll need additional cover. For example, do you need to consider catering insurance or makeup artist insurance?

Do I need cover for other types of work?

If you provide other services, make sure you’re covered:

• Event organiser insurance
• Photographer insurance
• Videographer insurance
• Event decorator
• Public liability insurance for events
• Private chef insurance
• Caterer – excluding mobile vans
• Catering van insurance

Other types of insurance

• Limited company insurance
• Self-employed insurance
• Freelance insurance
• Consultant insurance

Which public liability cover limit should I choose?

Think about the maximum possible loss your business could face in the event of a claim, and make sure you take legal fees and damages into consideration. You can choose from three levels of coverage – £1 million, £2 million, or up to £5 million.