In the world we live in today, companies try to sell us insurance for everything. The difference is in the theatre industry we would highly recommend that you have public liability insurance to cover yourselves for work if you are self-employed. This protects you from any lawsuits should anything go wrong while you are working and either you or anyone around you gets injured.
Public liability insurance should only be a couple of hundreds of pounds a year from a good insurance broker, and could save you thousands of pounds if someone is hurt or equipment is broken while you are working. This should also cover audience members/public if they are in the vicinity when work is taking place.
There are a few insurance brokers who specialise in the entertainment industry which is extremely worthwhile because the value of the insurance policy can be higher due to the type of work taking place (can be covered from £5 million as standard upwards). They are also more likely to pay out if you need to make a claim in unusual circumstances because they understand and cover the risky areas other insurance policies may not. E.g. injuries caused by plant machinery, grinding wheels etc.
We currently insure ourselves with Doodson Entertainment whose contact details are below, but there are other brokers out there.
Doodson Entertainment – www.doodsonbg.com
+44 (0)161 419 3000
