The Buyt Desk
Wedding insurance can help you to recover losses from the disasters that can strike on your wedding days. Let us understand how it works and what it covers.
Since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many weddings were cancelled at the last moment. Reasons are various like restrictions imposed by government authorities on the gathering of people, absence of relatives and family members, bride or groom infected by COVID-19, and travel restrictions. There were 3 major COVID-19 waves in India in the last 2 years. Many weddings have been cancelled in these 2 years. Also, there are many cases where wedding plans changed due to an increase in COVID-19 cases. People who had paid and booked huge wedding venues and catering services for 1000 guests have ended up getting married in an intimate event at home with just 20 guests. The advance paid for booking or any other type of payment are non-refundable. Many have had financial losses for either cancelling the wedding or downscaling it. If these people had opted for wedding insurance, their losses would have been covered by insurance companies.
What is Wedding Insurance?
Like any other event insurance, wedding insurance is intended to shield you from different potential financial losses associated with your big day, your wedding day. This comes under liability coverage or cancellation coverage. Essentially, wedding insurance covers the couple’s investment from situations that are beyond their control and reimburses losses incurred. For example,
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You book a limo for your wedding day and it doesn’t show up and now at the last moment, you have to book another at a higher cost.
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The bride’s custom-made gown or saree is lost in airport baggage, and she has to buy a new one at the last moment at a very high price.
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The wedding venue shuts down for business a few days before the wedding, and now you have to book another venue at a higher price at the last moment.
These are a few of the potential types of wedding day financial losses. Wedding insurance will help you by covering these losses.
Why opt for Wedding Insurance?
Everybody wants a dream wedding and none wants their wedding cancelled or want any last moment changes. But at times such circumstances arise and the wedding gets postponed or cancelled at the last moment when all preparations are done. There will be huge financial losses when such uneventful things occur. Having wedding insurance will help you recover your losses and be stable even if any such event happens and hinders the wedding.
How does it work?
While buying a wedding insurance policy, you must decide your coverage limits and deductibles. Based on this the policy cost is evaluated, events covered by this policy is listed and the coverage limit is decided. The premium charged on wedding insurance is usually between 0.7- 2 % of the total sum assured.
Types of Coverages
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Liability Coverage – This covers the damages caused by third parties in wedding ceremonies. Check with your venue if it covers event liability, if not then you should buy one. You can also add the liquor liability insurance add on to it which will cover alcohol-related incidents. Other add-ons are
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Vendor issues
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Guests getting sick or being injured
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Extreme weather
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Military deployment
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Dress damage or wedding attire coverage
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Cancellation Coverage – This provides cover when a wedding is cancelled or postponed.
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Damage to Property – This provides cover when loss or damage is done to the property during the wedding events.
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Personal Accident – This provides cover when the bride or groom is hospitalized due to accidents.
What does Wedding Insurance cover?
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Advance payments to caterers
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Booking amount for the wedding venue
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Payments made to the travel agencies
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Hotel room booking payments
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Costs of Wedding Invitation Card printing
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Advance payments for music and decoration
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Costs of venue decorations and wedding sets
What Wedding Insurance doesn’t cover?
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If the bride or groom changes their heart and decides not to marry. Cold feet are not covered.
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It doesn’t cover watches and semiprecious gemstones or pearls, even if attached to a garment.
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Other than wedding rings, no other jewellery is counted.
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Loss of clothing, jewellery or personal property of wedding guests
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Situations like terrorist attacks, strikes/civil unrest
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Groom or bride kidnapping
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Property damage due to lack of supervision or negligence
How to claim Wedding Insurance?
When an unpleasant incident happens and it is covered by your wedding insurance plan, the first thing is to inform the insurance company. The insurance company will inquire about this event to collect facts, reasons and the losses incurred. If it is as per the policy then the compensation for the loss is paid to the insured.
Summing up
Every wedding is different and families involved. So are the insurance policies and add-ons. Always make sure you talk to your insurance agent in detail about what is covered and what is not. Buy add-ons if needed. You should understand every term and condition of the policy.
