3 Reasons Why You Should Ask Your Event Vendor If They Have Liability Insurance

When evaluating vendors for your next event, one consideration that is often overlooked is vendor liability insurance. Liability insurance is not required to operate a business in the event industry, as it is in other industries. Whether your vendor is providing catering, event planning, DJ, or even photo booth services, you’ll want to ask if they carry liability insurance.

If you’re planning an event in the San Antonio area, whether it’s a wedding, social, or corporate event you’ll want to continue reading to learn about the 3 reasons why you should ask your vendors about liability insurance.

Protection

Liability insurance is in place to protect both the venue and the vendor in case of an incident at the event. As with many other insurances such as car or home insurance, a small investment each month will provide peace of mind. While the likelihood of something happening may not be high. If something was to happen, you would want to ensure your guests, vendors and venue of choice are covered. Many events provide alcohol which may cause inadvertent accidents with your guests or vendors. For photo booths, you’ll want your vendor to be protected in case a backdrop were to fall.

Venue Requirement

While it is not a hard requirement, most reputable venues will require outside vendors to carry a minimum liability insurance. Venues or event coordinators will handled the logistics of collecting certificate of insurance policies from outside vendors.Vendors should be very familiar with the process and may not have to provide a copy of their insurance if they have worked at the venue recently. Various San Antonio venues will keep insurance on file for a vendor for a calendar year.

Vendor Credibility

Vendors who do not carry liability insurance will be required to sign a waiver or elect to get one day coverage. While this can be acceptable by most venues, you may want to consider their commitment to their business if they don’t carry insurance regulary.

The topic of liability insurance will also separate the fly-by-night companies from the serious ones. Those who just run a photo booth business on the side will not be willing to pay the costs of having insurance. This is our only business, we live and breathe photo booths and are fully insured.

Conclusion

As you navigate planning your next event, asking your vendors if they have liability insurance is a great way to gauge their professionalism. By asking, your vendors will also see that you have done your research and will value your interest in that respect.