Do Entertainers Need Liability Insurance?

Insurance is one of those things in life that you hope you will never need to use, but if something does happen, you have it. Early in my entertainment career, I was only working one or two birthday parties a month and the thought of insurance never entered my mind.  Like most beginning entertainers, we think it will never happen to us, it only happens to other people. Nevertheless, as your business grows you start to realize that entertainment insurance is not a negative word but a positive word.  It really is your safety net just to protect your business and family from the unthinkable.

Professional entertainers or for that matter, any person who is entertaining the public, can find themselves in unfamiliar situations.   Things happen…. I have performed this trick a thousand times and it’s never slipped out of my hands; the balloons I am using are the best in the industry and you feel confident, until it explodes next to a child’s eye or ear; I have never seen a child react like this before to the face paint.  These things can happen, they happen quickly and to complicate matters, it is happening to a child. Adults can be understanding when it happens to them, but when it happens to their child, look out.  All heck will break loose.

Several companies offer liability insurance for entertainers. Each have strengths and weaknesses, but you have to determine which insurance is best for your entertainment business.  Ask yourself these types of questions and it will make it easier to get the right liability insurance coverage.

• Do I want to insure me, as an entertainer or as a retailer selling a product?
• Am I building structures that people or property can be hurt or damage by?
• Do I need to insure my equipment in case of theft?

Liability Insurance Solutions

The World Clown Association provides liability insurance to their member once a year and is a great place to start.  They do have restrictions on the type of entertainers that they will cover. Nevertheless, they cover the most popular forms of entertainment.

Insurance companies like Bomba Insurance and Specialty Insurance Agency are companies that offer liability insurance to entertainers.  I personally use Specialty Insurance because it has extensive coverage and offers me the opportunity to request Certificates of Insurance for my customers.  Municipalities, schools, park department and government agencies usually require a Certificate of Insurance, which is a document that states that the entertainer is insured, and in the likelihood of an accident occurs, that the venue is exempt from these liabilities, or at least helps protect them in the event they are included in the lawsuit.

Consider this, every brick and mortar business is required to have liability insurance to safeguard their business and its customers, so it only makes senses that an entertainer should carry it too. If you are a professional, buy the insurance. If you doing it as a hobby or as a volunteer, check with the venue to see if they have an insurance rider to cover you just in case the unthinkable happens. Safeguard you, your business, and your property by getting liability insurance.

Let it be known, that I do not represent or receive any monetary gain from any of the above companies written about in this article.

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