Imagine for a moment that you are up on stage, tap dancing underneath the spotlight, when suddenly you notice your shoelace is coming undone. You can’t exactly stop in the middle of a performance to fix it, so you make a silent plea for everything to stay in place and try your best to finish the dance number.
It’s the final moment of your dance and as you make that high kick, you watch in horror as your tap shoe flies off of your foot and hits a woman sitting in the front row. The force of the shoe flying through the air renders her unconscious and someone calls for an ambulance.
Dollar signs flash before your eyes as you envision how much this accident will end up costing you. Moments like this are exactly why you need to have performer insurance in place.
What is Performer Insurance?
As a performer you know that anything can happen in a split second. An overhead light can become loose and crash onto the stage. The power can go out unexpectedly in the middle of a show, leaving you in a blackout. An audience member can suddenly become ill, which brings the show to a halt while the person receives medical care.
All of these things are out of your control. A typical performance venue handles the mishaps and takes responsibility for any damages as a result. However, when accidents happen to you personally or to members of your audience as a result of your performance actions, you bear all of the responsibility for, as well as the consequences of, those accidental events.
At this point, performer insurance steps in and helps alleviate some of the stress and mounting financial expenses you face. Performer insurance provides you with protection from accidental injury or death of audience members and volunteers, performance venue property damage, and negligence.
As a performer, you may require practice space that you own or lease and special pieces of equipment that are part of your act. The insurance policy will cover these elements as well as any legal costs should an insurance claim against you require legal action. A downside to your industry is the likelihood that a person or venue may make a claim against you for something that is not your fault. Your insurance policy provides coverage for this specific occurrence as well.
Who Needs Coverage?
Performer insurance is ideal for anyone who takes the stage or performs in front of crowds at venues across the globe. It is something that every dancer, comedian, circus performer, balloon artist, flame thrower or any performer putting on act needs to have before performing their next show.
The window of opportunity for something to go wrong is slightly higher in the performance industry. You cannot afford to be giving a performance and not have insurance protection backing you up if something does happen. You don’t necessarily have to be on a traditional stage for negligence to occur.
Envision yourself as a clown happily walking around the circus tent chatting with the spectators and making balloon animals for the children. All of a sudden, a lion on center stage lets out a loud roar startling the child in front of you. That child screams, causing you to pop the balloon in your hand. The child is now screaming louder as is the parent who wants to know why you would pop a balloon in a child’s face. A week later you are now the recipient of a lawsuit the parent files. At that moment, you need the protection that performer insurance provides.
Not having the proper insurance in place means that you are bearing all of the expenses for the legal costs, the medical expenses and any restitution you may be responsible for paying when a lawsuit settles. Your days as a performer have now come to an end as a result of not having the proper insurance coverage. When you look at it that way, performance insurance is definitely worth the small monthly cost that you will pay to have coverage.
Marine Agency Can Help
The insurance specialists at Marine Agency can work with you to create a performer insurance plan that covers all of your basic needs plus any additional coverage that your specific act may require. You may have a work car that your agency allows you to use for travel to and from performances. Depending on the nature of your act, increasing the liability limits on your policy may be something you want to consider. Marine Agency will fight for you even when you did nothing wrong.
Call us or check out our contact page today to speak with a friendly and knowledgeable (real and not automated) staff member who will explain the many ways that Marine Agency will ensure that you’re insured and prepared for the unexpected!
