Event cancellation insurance in Germany: protecting the budget behind your event
By the time the doors open, an organiser has usually spent most of the money: venue hire, staging, sound and light, artist fees, marketing. If the event is cancelled, cut short or postponed, those costs remain. Event cancellation insurance, known in Germany as Veranstaltungsausfallversicherung, reimburses them when the cause was beyond your control. Weather and the non-appearance of named performers are usually separate sections you have to add.
How is event cancellation insurance different from event liability insurance?
Liability insurance pays when your event causes harm to someone else, for example a visitor tripping over a cable. Cancellation insurance protects your own money when the event cannot go ahead as planned. It is a financial loss cover for the organiser. For any sizeable event in Germany you normally need both, because neither one steps in for the other.
Three building blocks: core cover, key persons, weather
German wordings are typically split into cover forms. The core cover responds to events that neither you nor your contractors can influence, such as the venue being closed after a fire or a power cut across the district. What it often leaves out are the two risks organisers think of first: bad weather and the headline act failing to appear.
Both are available as add-ons. For key person cover, the artists, speakers or athletes the event depends on are named in the policy. Weather cover defines the insured weather event in the contract and is mainly intended for open-air and marquee events, which core cover often leaves out.
Your budget is your sum insured
German insurers cover the costs you declared before the policy was issued. You submit a budget plan that becomes part of the contract, and anything missing from it is not reimbursed even if you really spent it. If the budget changes, tell the insurer straight away.
If the sum insured is substantially too low, underinsurance applies and every claim is reduced in proportion. Savings and income you keep are deducted, for instance a partial refund of the venue fee or a cancellation credit from the caterer.
Cancellation by the authorities and the usual exclusions
If the local authority cancels your event for a reason outside your control, a core cover that insures all events beyond your control normally includes that. It does not pay if the reason is that you failed to obtain permits or meet conditions imposed on you.
Many wordings expressly exclude cancellations due to communicable diseases, even when ordered by an authority. Since the pandemic, communicable disease clauses, where they are offered at all, generally exclude coronavirus. War, terrorism, strikes and poor ticket sales are commonly excluded too. If you need cover for any of these, ask for it specifically.
What it is not
It does not replace event liability insurance or equipment cover for staging and technology. Ticket protection that buyers add at checkout protects the visitor, not the organiser. Private celebrations such as weddings have products of their own. Event cancellation insurance is the cover for commercial organisers, agencies, clubs and associations.
What is covered
Costs of preparing and staging the event if it is cancelled for an insured reason
Abandonment or curtailment once the event has started
Additional costs of postponing to a new date or moving to another venue
Venue unavailable, for example after fire, water damage or a power failure
Cancellation ordered by the authorities for reasons beyond your control, depending on the wording
Non-appearance of named performers through illness, accident or death, as an add-on
Weather for open-air and marquee events, as an add-on with an agreed definition
Costs of preventing or reducing the loss
What is not covered
Cancellation due to communicable diseases, epidemics and pandemics
Poor ticket sales or sponsors pulling out
Financial difficulties or insolvency of the organiser
Missing permits or conditions not met
War, terrorism and strikes unless expressly included
Costs that were not in the submitted budget
Weather at open-air or marquee events unless the weather section was added
Who needs it
Concert and festival promoters with high upfront costs for fees, staging and production
Event agencies running corporate events for clients and carrying the cost risk
Conference and trade fair organisers with venue hire and speaker fees
Clubs and associations staging large annual events, street festivals or sports events
Open-air organisers who could not absorb a storm out of their own funds
Who does not need it
Small events whose bookings can be cancelled free of charge until shortly before
If you only want to cover injury or damage to visitors, event liability insurance is the right product
Wheel of misfortune
Spin the wheel of bad luck
Six things that really happen. The wheel picks yours and shows who pays.
Cost:
Budget policy Strong policy
See all six cases
Storm warning, open-air show off, staging, technology, fees. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays. Only with the weather section. Without it, wordings often expressly exclude weather for open-air events.
Headliner in hospital, fee, production and ticket refunds. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: pays. Paid only if the artist is named under key person cover and the illness was not known when cover was taken out.
Venue closed after a fire, all costs incurred so far. Budget policy: pays, Strong policy: pays. An event beyond your control and so a case for the core cover. Extra costs of relocating count too.
Authorities cancel over disease, the entire budget. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: does not pay. Many wordings expressly exclude communicable diseases, even where an authority orders the cancellation.
Too few tickets sold, the gap between costs and income. Budget policy: does not pay, Strong policy: does not pay. Lack of public interest is a business risk and is not covered by any cancellation policy.
Venue refurbishment overruns, relocation or cancellation. Budget policy: pays in part, Strong policy: pays in part. Whether this is covered depends on the wording. If the delay was foreseeable when you bought cover, there is no protection.
What it costs
The premium is calculated per event or for an annual policy covering several events, based on the sum insured and the sections you choose. Weather cover is usually the most expensive part for open-air events. There are no independent, reliable price surveys for commercial events in Germany, so we do not quote example premiums.
What drives the premium
Sum insured according to the budget
Type, location and size of the event
Open air, marquee or permanent venue
Sections chosen: core cover, key persons, weather
Number of named persons
Time between taking out the policy and the event date
Agreed deductible
The premium is only fixed once the insurer has reviewed budget, venue, date and the sections requested. Asking early gives you more options.
The policy levels on the market
01
Core cover
Cancellation, abandonment and postponement for reasons beyond your control, without weather or key persons. Suits indoor events without a single star.
02
Core cover plus key persons
Adds the non-appearance of named artists, speakers or athletes through illness, accident or death.
03
Full cover including weather
All three sections, for open-air shows, festivals and marquee events, with the weather event defined in the policy.
How to recognise a good policy
Criterion
Minimum standard
Strong policy
Why it matters
Scope of core cover
named perils only
all events beyond your control unless excluded
A list leaves out every cause nobody thought of.
Weather section
not covered
covered, with a clear and measurable definition
For open-air events weather is the biggest cancellation risk.
Key person cover
not covered
covers everyone the event depends on
If the headline act drops out, the audience stays away.
Postponement and relocation
only on final cancellation
extra costs of postponing or relocating included
A new date is often cheaper than cancelling.
Revenue
costs only
lost net revenue or sponsorship can be insured
If you budget for a surplus, cancellation costs you more than your outlay.
Terrorism and strikes
excluded
can be added for an extra premium
For large public events a threat alone can force a cancellation.
Deductible
high or percentage based
low or none
It is deducted from every claim.
Insurers on the German market
The German market is small. Many policies are placed through brokers with specialist insurers and underwriting agencies, including Hiscox (through the agency EventAssec), GGW in Hamburg, Tokio Marine HCC and AXA XL. The risk carriers behind these specialists are mostly based in other EU states and are therefore not on BaFin's list of insurers under German federal supervision. The list below shows insurers under federal supervision. It is a market overview, not a promise of cover.
Insurer
Background
ARAG
event cancellation policy with core cover and a weather section, also sold online to clubs and associations; ARAG lists the non-appearance of persons such as artists as not covered
AXA
event insurance with a section for cancellation, abandonment and changes to the event
R+V
event cancellation insurance for financial loss from cancelling, abandoning or relocating an event
Allianz Commercial
Allianz's commercial and specialty arm, cancellation cover for large events
HDI Global
industrial insurer of the Talanx group, event cancellation on its own wording, enquiries through brokers
HanseMerkur
event and wedding insurance for private celebrations and ticket insurance for buyers, not a product for commercial organisers
For one event on a fixed date, with its own budget plan.
Annual policy
For organisers with several dates a year. Each event must be declared, otherwise it is not covered.
Key person cover
Add-on for named artists, speakers or athletes. Not every insurer offers it.
Weather cover
Add-on for open-air and marquee events, with a defined weather event.
Event liability insurance
Related line: covers injury or damage suffered by visitors or third parties because of the event.
Myth or truth
True or false?
Five things people say about this insurance. Guess first, then see the answer.
Bad weather is included in every event cancellation policy.
This is false.
False. Wordings often exclude weather for open-air and marquee events. You then need a separate weather section that has to be agreed expressly.
Without a specific agreement, cancellation cover pays costs only, not planned profit.
This is true.
True. The basic form reimburses costs. Planned profit or sponsorship income can be added with some insurers, but it has to be agreed expressly and built into the sum insured.
Cancellation because of a pandemic is normally covered today.
This is false.
No. Many wordings expressly exclude communicable diseases, even where an authority orders the cancellation. Where disease clauses are still offered, they generally exclude coronavirus.
If the sum insured is far too low, even a small claim is only partly paid.
This is true.
True. Under underinsurance every claim is reduced in proportion to the sum insured against the actual value, so the budget should be complete.
Event liability insurance pays if the concert is cancelled.
This is false.
No. Liability insurance covers harm you cause to others. Your own costs from a cancellation are only covered by cancellation insurance.
Common mistakes
Buying cover only once a risk is already foreseeable
Insuring an open-air date without the weather section
Increasing costs later without updating the budget with the insurer
Not having the headline act named in the policy
Cancelling before the insurer has been informed
Leaving permits and official conditions until the last minute
Frequently asked questions
Questions and answers
Frequently asked
When should I take out event cancellation insurance?
As early as possible, ideally once the first contracts with venue,
artists and suppliers are signed.
A cause that was known or foreseeable when you took out the policy is not covered,
for example a performer's existing illness.
Is bad weather covered?
Only if you add the weather section.
It is mainly intended for open-air and marquee events,
and the insured weather event is defined in the contract.
Without it, German wordings often expressly exclude weather for such events.
What if the headline act falls ill?
The insurer pays if that person is named under key person cover and the illness began after cover
started.
An illness already known when the policy was taken out is not covered.
The details, such as the evidence required, depend on the wording.
Does it pay if the authorities cancel the event?
Under a core cover that insures all events beyond your control, generally yes.
Cancellations due to communicable diseases and cases where you failed to meet official conditions
are excluded.
The exact wording decides.
Is lost profit covered?
The basic form reimburses costs, less savings and income you keep.
Some insurers also cover lost net revenue or sponsorship income.
This has to be agreed before the policy is issued and reflected in the sum insured.
What if my budget changes?
Tell the insurer immediately.
As a rule only costs listed in the submitted budget are reimbursed,
and if the sum insured is substantially too low each claim is reduced proportionally.
Can I insure several events in one policy?
Yes, with an annual policy.
Each event must be declared to the insurer, otherwise it is not covered.
This suits agencies, touring promoters and clubs with a fixed calendar.
Do I need a German address to buy cover?
German insurers look at where the event takes place and who organises it.
For events in Germany organised by a company or association abroad,
we clarify with the insurer whether and how cover can be written.
Why use a broker?
Because the market is small and many offers are only available through brokers and underwriting
agencies.
Wordings differ widely on the weather definition, key person cover and exclusions.
We collect quotes, go through your budget with you and compare the terms.
The insurer pays our commission.
NAMMERT insurance broker
Request quotes for Event cancellation
We obtain quotes and come back with a comparison, free of charge.
You can write in English.
Thank you, we have your request.
We will be in touch within one working day. If it is urgent: +49 3375 29 12 77.
