Insurance Corner: Insuring your big day

Wedding season is here! If you are among the fortunate people that are planning a wedding in the near future- congratulations! It is an exciting event and with a little smart planning, a day that you will cherish for a lifetime.

While Wedding Cancellation Insurance won't cover cold feet, you can insure for events like severe weather, unforeseen illness or injury of a key person or damage to your venue. Premiums are relatively low, especially when you compare the cost to the amount that would be lost in the event of a postponement or cancellation.

This type of policy won't cover a little drizzle at your long planned outdoor event, but if a hurricane, major snowstorm or earthquake closes the airport or roadways and prevents most of your guests from attending your wedding, it will cover the costs to cancel or postpone your plans. It will also kick-in if the reception hall is damaged in the storm enough to force a rearrangement of your wedding plans.

If sudden illness or injury of one of the key people

someone in immediate family or wedding party) causes a postponement or cancellation of the nuptials, you policy will likely pay the costs. Read this part of the contract carefully, as a pre-existing condition will likely not be covered.

Your engagement and wedding rings should be insured before and during the event, but also after the event as well. Some wedding cancellation policies offer coverage for rings, but then the coverage is gone once the wedding is over. The best way to insure your rings is by adding an endorsement (or "rider") to your homeowner's or tenant's policy. It will cover the cost to replace the ring if it is misplaced, stolen, lost in flood, fire or even if the stone falls out.

Lastly, you want to be sure you have adequate liability insurance, just in case someone falls or gets food poisoning from all that caviar. Discuss with your broker what is covered under your homeowner's policy and if your limit is high enough. If you are giving a big bash, the space you rent will often require proof of insurance before the event.

You should also be sure that your wedding site, your suppliers and subcontractors all have adequate liability insurance. Request a Certificate of Insurance showing you as an "Additional Insured" well in advance of the event. Also, any contract you sign should indemnify you from their negligence.

For more information on how to protect your business, contact Martha Marton at Tupling Insurance Brokers Limited. Direct Line 705.458.8111 marthamarton@tuplinginsur ance.com

Tupling Insurance Brokers, 1070 Innisfil Beach Road, Innisfil, ON L9S 4T9 705.431.5585

Martha Marton, CAIB, CRM

Registered Insurance Broker