London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Oct 02, 2025

UK government set for leading role in insuring live entertainment

UK government set for leading role in insuring live entertainment

The British government is expected to announce an insurance scheme in the coming weeks for live events, including festivals, theatre and sports, to allow them to go ahead despite the pandemic, insurance industry sources said.

Insurers have since last year stripped COVID-19 from event cancellation insurance policies, meaning event organisers have no cover if a coronavirus outbreak forces them to tear up their schedules.

A report from a parliamentary committee last month called for a government-backed insurance scheme for live events, similar to a successful 500 million pounds ($696.05 million) scheme introduced for the film and TV industry last year.

The government is due to respond to the committee's report by the end of the month.

It was "considering options" on insurance and indemnity, Nigel Huddleston, a junior minister at Britain's culture ministry, told parliament last week.

"We are hopeful there will be an announcement," said Tim Thornhill, a director at insurance broker Tysers, highlighting the urgency given there have already been cancellations.

Music festival Womad cancelled its July 2021 festival on Monday, citing the government’s unwillingness to provide insurance support for festivals.

However, insurance industry sources said the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport has set up an "events indemnity sprint team" across several government departments and a government spokesperson said the department was working flat out to support live events.

"We are aware of the wider concerns about securing indemnity cover and are exploring what further support may be required when the sector is able to reopen," a ministry spokesperson said by email.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said further lockdowns cannot be entirely ruled out, but that Britain is on course to lift most remaining COVID-19 restrictions on July 19.

ECONOMIC VALUE


In pressing the case for government support, the cultural sector says it is a huge tourist draw and theatre closures last year and this year have dealt a heavy blow to the economy.

In 2019, before the pandemic, Britain's music industry alone contributed 5.8 billion pounds ($8.04 billion) to the economy, UK Music said.

After months of closure or pared back performances with reduced audiences to allow social distancing, planning ahead to revive the sector is all but impossible without events cancellation insurance, theatre and music directors say.

That makes government intervention crucial if the commercial sector will not pay.

"It would make a massive difference to us," said Neil McPherson, artistic director at the Finborough Theatre, an independent venue in west London.

"We basically have the choice of carrying on with productions with devastating repercussions if we have to cancel, or cancel completely in advance because we can't take the risk."

Andrew Lloyd-Webber and other West End impresarios last week also said a government-backed insurance scheme was vital.

Specialist insurers in the Lloyd's of London and broader London commercial insurance market would be likely to provide some initial cover, brokers said, but most would take the form of a backstop from the government.

That structure would enable the government to reduce its exposure as the risk of COVID-19 subsides.

"There have to be insurers involved so there is an exit plan," said James Davies, divisional director, sport and entertainment at EC3 Brokers. Both Tysers and EC3 have provided data to the government to help it to design a scheme.

Industry sources are hoping for a scheme at least as large as the film and TV scheme. The larger the scheme, the greater the variety of events which could get cover, including conferences and weddings, they said.

Thornhill said modelling by Tysers showed the government could insure 1.1 billion pounds in event costs with 250-300 million pounds of insurance.

($1 = 0.7216 pounds)

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×