What to Know About Wedding Insurance and COVID

Insurance is that thing you never want to pay for, hope your never need but when disaster hits, you are relieved to have it. This is particularly true for weddings. Everyone dreads situations where wedding insurance is required, but with the overwhelming COVID related consequences on weddings and the wedding industry, wedding insurance may actually be the first thing that comes to mind now. For those who aren’t sure, wedding planners may explain standard wedding insurance as a liability policy. These protect you from accountability in different situations such as: where venue damage occurs or guest injuries are sustained etc; however, they do not usually cover a cancellation. Nevertheless, there are an extensive range of policy types which can offer coverage for a variety of situations, including: forced cancellations, fire, death, travel and vendor expenses and even natural disaster coverage. Talk to your wedding planner, let them help you figure out what policy is right for you and remember to ask the policy provider the hard questions to ensure what is covered.

But will my insurance cover COVID related claims?

Although many insurance policies differ, from our research, we have found that most companies are giving similar responses to this question. The answer being mostly that whether your insurance provider will cover COVID claims, depends on whether your insurance was purchased before the first official declaration of Coronavirus outbreak (30th January, 2020) or the declaration of COVID as a pandemic and “an unforeseen event” (11th March, 2020). It’s a bit ambiguous and we are not your insurer provider, so make sure you contact them directly for policy information.     However, in general it seems that clients who have purchased wedding insurance before the official declaration of COVID as a “known event”, may receive coverage for certain COVID claims such as medical expenses, postponement and maybe even cancellation. For those who have obtained wedding insurance after the declaration dates however, appear to not be covered for COVID insurance claims; but some companies are performing case by case investigations. If you still plan on purchasing wedding insurance, we recommend consulting your Brisbane Wedding Planner and study different insurance contracts to ensure you understand the wording of what is covered and whether the policy covers changes to your wedding plans as a result of Coronavirus.