Published
Fri, Aug 6, 2021, 08:17
- The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme provides financial cover for event cancellations caused by the pandemic.
The British government yesterday announced a £750 million insurance scheme for live events.
The Live Events Reinsurance Scheme comes after months of campaigning from various bodies within the music industry, offering a lifeline to a sector which has been impacted heavily by the Covid-19 pandemic.
The scheme, which will run up until September 2022, will be made available to event organisers and promoters next month. It will provide financial cover in the case of event cancellations caused by the pandemic and its restrictions. The move has been praised by many across the industry, following prolonged periods of uncertainty over the last 18 months.
Michael Kill, CEO of the Night Time Industries Association (NTIA), welcomed the announcement, saying "it will give some comfort and certainty to the supply chain and freelancers that heavily rely on this industry for their main source of income, and we would hope that with this news many will feel confident in returning to work within the sector."
The positive reaction to the announcement was tempered by the delayed arrival of the scheme. Speaking to The Guardian, Womad festival director Chris Smith said "Anything to support the industry going forward is a positive, but it has come too late for so many organisations like ours who have lost the summer and need not have done." Many festival cancellations in the UK have cited the lack of pandemic-related insurance as a key factor in their decision.