Graeme Trudgill Executive Director at the British Insurance Brokers Association (BIBA) said: Confirmation by the Chancellor, Rishi Sunak that there will be a Government backed insurance scheme to support live events is welcome news for our members and the entire insurance sector, the events sector and the economy as a whole.
There has been a huge collaborative effort across the insurance industry on this difficult issue. BIBA, along with our specialist members, has been lobbying Government for an intervention, explaining that the challenges for insurers created by Covid-19 and its variants were devastating to this part of the economy and that a financial intervention would actually create a 900% return in economic activity. We engaged with the All Party Parliamentary Group on Insurance on this issue to see what appetite there was to progress.
We were able to provide the Department for Culture, Media & Sport detailed information on the operation of cancellation insurance and underwriting considerations to help them build an intervention and were pleased to discuss the details of a proposal with their team and with Her Majesty’s Treasury. .
We became optimistic that a solution was coming when the Insurance Minister told us in a public interview that: “he was having discussions with the Chancellor and would be continuing to examine this difficult topic in an engaged fashion.”
Tim Thornhill, Director at events specialist broker and BIBA member, Tysers who worked closely with us and played a leading role in convincing Government to intervene added: “The constructive approach taken by HM Treasury and DCMS to include the insurance market is a smart, pragmatic approach and means the swiftest possible transfer back to the commercial insurance market once there is more certainty in the future, to take on the risks directly.”
Christopher Croft, CEO of the London and International Insurance Brokers Association (LIIBA) commented: “The insurance broking industry has been working with the government on this scheme for some time, and Tim Thornhill from Tysers has been tireless in his work to solve this problem. We are delighted that the entertainment and events industry now have a solution that will enable events to go ahead. It builds on the film re-start scheme which helps provide greater certainty for the cultural industries that are such a major part of the UK economy.”
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