You carry the refunds whether or not the show was your fault.

General liability

Third-party bodily injury and property damage — the line nearly every contract names by default.

Without it — The promoter is the party the venue, the city and the plaintiff all name.

Event cancellation

Reimburses the committed costs of an event that cannot go ahead for a reason outside your control — and the exposure peaks before the gates open, because most of the money is spent by then.

Without it — Deposits, marketing, production and venue fees are committed long before the doors open.

Non-appearance

Responds when the specific named artist people bought tickets to see cannot perform, through illness, injury or travel failure — which general event cover does not carry by default.

Without it — People bought tickets for a name, and refunds follow that name not appearing.

Liquor liability

If you serve alcohol, your general liability almost certainly excludes what happens after you serve it.

Without it — Where you hold the licence or the bar revenue, the alcohol exposure is yours and general liability excludes it.

Assault & battery

A fight in a bar is an intentional act, and general liability excludes intentional acts — so the claim most likely to arrive from a late-night venue is the one most often uninsured.

Without it — Crowd incidents are the claim most likely to be sublimited on an event policy.

Inland marine & equipment

Tools, equipment and property in transit. It picks up exactly where commercial property stops, which is the moment the item leaves the building.

Without it — Hired production, staging and sound are your responsibility from load-in to strike.

Umbrella & excess liability

Extra limit stacked above general liability, auto and employers liability. Usually the cheapest million dollars on the policy.

Without it — Venue agreements and municipal licences specify limits above primary as a condition of the booking.

Professional liability

Covers the advice, the drawing, the diagnosis — the work itself, rather than someone getting hurt on your premises.

Without it — Promoting is a service performed for artists and venues, and a failure to deliver it is financial.

The artist cancelled. Can I recover what I have spent?

Only with non-appearance cover in force, and only for a covered reason. This is the exposure that defines promotion: you have paid the venue, the production, the marketing and often an advance, the tickets are sold, and the one thing you cannot control is whether the act arrives. Contracts help and they do not pay refunds — an artist who is genuinely ill is not in breach, and you still owe every ticket holder their money.

How non-appearance cover works

Is one annual policy better than insuring each event?

Almost always, once you are promoting more than a handful a year. Per-event cover is priced individually, needs arranging each time under deadline, and leaves gaps between shows. An annual policy with a declared schedule is cheaper, faster and closes the gaps — and it means the certificate a venue asks for on Tuesday exists on Tuesday.

Who is responsible if the venue’s equipment fails?

It depends on the agreement, and the agreement usually says you. Venue contracts routinely place responsibility for the event on the promoter and require indemnity plus additional insured status, which means a failure of hired or house equipment lands with you to argue afterwards. Read the indemnity clause, not just the insurance clause — they are frequently broader than the limits being asked for.