The full schedule
Every city, venue and date, including load-in and load-out days. Underwriters rate the tour on the whole run, so a complete schedule gets a better answer than a partial one.
EVENT INSURANCE
Concert Tour and Touring Production Insurance
Six cities, six venues, six sets of booking conditions, and one act everything depends on. Insuring a tour show by show multiplies the paperwork and the minimum premiums. Putting the whole run on one policy can do the opposite.
One policyFor every show on the tour
$20MPublic liability many venues ask for
Per showVenues, dates and budgets scheduled
Named actsWhat non-appearance cover is built on
Premiums and outcomes described are specific to this client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.
THE SHORT ANSWER
How do you insure a concert tour or touring production in Australia?
Concert tour insurance puts every show on a multi-city or multi-state tour onto one policy, which can be more cost-effective and easier to place than buying cover show by show, depending on the schedule. A touring program typically combines $20 million public liability, with a certificate for each venue, event cancellation for each show's budget, and non-appearance cover for the touring act. Underwriters want the schedule of venues, dates and capacities, the budget per show, and health and travel details for the named performers.
This page is for promoters and producers taking a show on the road. It is not about travel businesses or tour operators.
- Structure
- One policy for the whole tour
- Liability limit
- $20 million, certificate per venue
- Cancellation
- Each show's budget scheduled on the policy
- Headline act
- Non-appearance, bought separately
Our events specialist
Shaneel Gounden
Account Executive
For a multi-city or multi-state tour, putting every show on one policy is often simpler to place and more cost-effective than buying a policy for each event, depending on the schedule.
Previously in the Entertainment and Sports team at Marsh, placing event liability, cancellation and prize cover, then in events at Aon.
General information only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider the relevant PDS and TMD before deciding, and cover is subject to the policy terms.
| One tour policy | A policy per show | |
|---|---|---|
| Placement | One submission, one underwriting review for the whole run | A submission for every show |
| Cost | Often more cost-effective overall, depending on the schedule | A minimum premium can apply to every policy |
| Certificates | One policy, with a certificate issued for each venue that needs one | A different policy and certificate for each venue |
| Terms | The same wording and exclusions at every show | Terms can differ from city to city |
| Changes | Added or moved dates are notified to the insurer on the same policy | Another placement for each new date |
The saving is not only premium. A tour policy means one set of exclusions to understand, one renewal or extension conversation, and one contact when a venue asks for a certificate at short notice.
Each venue
Capacity, seated or standing, indoor or outdoor, and whether it is an established venue or a temporary site. Outdoor dates bring weather into the cancellation conversation.
Alcohol and security at each stop
Who holds the liquor licence and who runs security, show by show. When the venue provides both, say so. When you bring your own contractors, they should carry their own insurance.
The production
Staging, rigging and special effects that travel with the show, who builds them, and whether pyrotechnics are run by a licensed operator with their own cover.
Budget per show and for the tour
The costs at risk for each date, and the total. Cancellation is insured on costs and expenses or on gross revenue, and the sum insured has to reflect the full amount.
The named performers
Who the tour depends on, with dates of birth, health declarations, travel plans and any history of non-appearance. This drives the non-appearance terms.
A tour policy schedules the budget for each show, so losing a single date is claimed on that show's net loss. Losing the act can take out several dates at once, which is why non-appearance matters more on a tour than on a one-off concert. In some published wordings the sum insured is an aggregate for the whole period of cover, and the claim is reduced proportionately if it is set below the true budget, so size it for the tour you are actually running.
Outdoor dates need the adverse weather extension if you want severe weather covered. Communicable disease is generally excluded, and terrorism and civil commotion cover vary by insurer. See event cancellation insurance for how the two bases of cover work.
Non-appearance covers the performers you name, for illness, accident and travel disruption. Insurers ask about each person's health and any history of non-appearance, how the act and essential equipment travel, and, for international acts, how many hours sit between arrival and the first show. They also check that performance contracts are signed and that visas and permits are in place.
Medical issues are a key focus. A loss adjuster usually investigates a claim, and the key question insurers ask is whether the show can be rescheduled. If it can, they cover the costs and expenses of moving it. More on non-appearance insurance.
Staging and production contractors can take wider marketing to place. We placed an event staging and pack-up crew's renewal at approximately $4,700 after nine insurers declined the occupation, and an event activation and temporary build business at approximately $10,800 a year for design and construct professional indemnity with $20 million public liability and glass, after three insurers declined the occupation.
Before joining Tank, Shaneel worked in the Entertainment and Sports team at Marsh and then at Aon. In his career he has placed public liability and event cancellation for event promoters, event managers and large music festivals.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Concert Tour Insurance FAQs
Often, yes, depending on the insurer and the schedule. In our events specialist's experience, bundling every show into one policy is usually simpler and more cost-effective than a policy for each event. The policy schedules each venue and date, and certificates of currency can be issued for each venue that needs one.
Each venue will usually want its own certificate showing $20 million public liability and, often, the venue named as an interested party. With a single tour policy those certificates come off the same policy, so you are not buying cover again for each stop. Send us each venue's insurance clause with the schedule.
Yes, with non-appearance cover for the named act combined with cancellation insured on a gross revenue basis, which covers costs plus lost profit. Many standard cancellation wordings exclude non-appearance, so it is typically added as its own section. Insurers look closely at health, travel and contracts before they agree terms.
If non-appearance cover is in place, a loss adjuster usually investigates the claim and the key question is whether the affected shows can be rescheduled. If they can, cover typically pays the costs of moving them to new dates, subject to the wording. If they cannot, it responds to the net loss on the shows that were lost, up to the sum insured.
No. Public liability covers injury to the public and damage to other people's property, not your own crew. Employees fall under workers compensation in each state, and contractors and volunteers need their own cover or personal accident. The touring gear itself needs property or equipment cover.
Start as soon as the schedule and budget are firm. Cancellation must be bound and paid before the first show, and anything already known when you buy it, such as a performer's existing illness, will be excluded. In our events specialist's experience, many single-event quotes are not released more than about 90 days out, and an annual policy is another way to secure cover early.
RELATED GUIDES
More on Event Insurance
QUOTE REQUEST
Get a concert tour insurance quote
Send the tour schedule with venues, dates and capacities, the budget per show, who the tour depends on, and each venue's insurance requirements. We will take the whole run to market on one submission.
Specialist broker review Australian business insurance
One Submission for the Whole Tour
Venues on a tour all want certificates, usually at short notice. Put the run on one policy and each one comes off the same cover.