What to look for in a Wedding Insurance Policy

As it is the beginning of the wedding season, Dreamsaver wedding insurance thought it might be a good idea to produce some tips about what to look for in a wedding insurance product, to make sure your big day is financially protected.

Although we can give you a few pointers, there is no better alternative than reading the policy wording. This sets out everything that you are covered for under the policy. They do differ between companies so although it can be seen as a bit dull and tedious it could save you a great deal of heart-ache later. If you have any questions your insurer should be happy to answer them.

Be aware that some of the cheapest policies on the market do not cover claims for Financial Failure of suppliers, Wedding Attire or Rings among other sections. Adding these sections in to these policies can significantly increase the cost and therefore not as cost effective as a policy that already includes these sections, such as Dreamsaver Wedding Insurance.

Cancellation

Generally, the price of most wedding insurance policies is governed by the cancellation cost of the wedding. This is the cost of the entire wedding if you had to cancel, due to one of the reasons covered in the policy. This is a stand-alone figure and not in addition to any other sections.

If you insure your wedding for less than the total cost, for example taking out £10,000 of cover and your wedding costs £15,000, then the maximum you will be able to claim is £10,000. Some of the cheaper policies also include what is known as an Average clause, which means that if your chosen policy limit is less than the total cost then the insurers will only settle any claim in the same proportion. In the example above, the policy limit is two-thirds of the total cost and so a claim for, say, £6,000 will be reduced to £4,000.

There is a handy wedding insurance calculator on www.weddinginsurance.co.uk to help you work out the total cost of your wedding and therefore help you decide on the level of cancellation cover you need.

If you buy a Dreamsaver policy and then find at a later date that your wedding is going to require a higher level of cancellation cover, we are more than happy to increase your level of cover for the difference in cost between the policies.

Read the cancellation section of the policy to see the insured reasons for cancelling a wedding. Be aware NO wedding insurance policy will cover either the bride or the groom changing their mind and not wanting to get married.

Rearrangement

Rearrangement is similar to cancellation cover, indeed the reasons you will be able to claim for under the rearrangement section will usually be the same as the cancellation section; however it relies on the fact that the wedding is not completely cancelled, but rearranged for another date and therefore you won't lose all your deposits.

Rearrangement is often calculated as a percentage of the cancellation cover and this varies between companies. Dreamsaver wedding insurance offers 75% rearrangement cover, while other companies only offer 50% so it is worth checking the policy wording before you purchase a wedding insurance product.

Financial failure

With the current economic climate, many couples are keen to make sure they have protection should one of their wedding service suppliers go bust and they need to recover a lost deposit and/or arrange a suitable alternative. Many wedding insurance policies include this cover; however it is worth checking when this section comes in to force. In common with most policies, under Dreamsaver wedding insurance this cover is only comes into force 14 days after the policy has been purchased. As stated before some of the cheaper policies on the market do not have this section.

Public liability

Public liability cover relates to your personal legal liability arising from accidental injury to a third party or accidental damage to third party property. Most wedding insurance policies, including Dreamsaver provide this as standard for the bride and groom only.

If you want to cover your guests you can usually get an extension by paying an additional premium, but some cheaper policies do not allow you to extend cover to your guests, so check the policy wording.

Some venues may require you and your guests to have £5m of public liability cover. Many wedding insurance policies will cover £2m as standard and allow cover to be extended to £5m. Some policies do cover £5m as standard however it is worth checking with your particular venue whether or not they require you to have this level of cover prior to purchase, to make sure you are getting the best value for money.

Frequently, wedding insurance policies do not cover Public for the guests if the wedding is abroad. Equally if the wedding takes place in the United States or Canada Public Liability for the Bride and Groom is excluded. Read the policy wording of the particular policy so you know who is covered.

Dreamsaver's Public Liability section will not cover wedding bands or performers at your reception; if a band or other entertainers are being paid to perform at your reception they should have their own Public Liability cover.

Public liability was covered in more detail by Dreamsaver Wedding Insurance in this article here.

Marquee cover

Cover for a hired marquee is often available as an extension to the wedding insurance policy. There are different levels of cover depending on the value of the marquee. This will protect you against loss or damage to the marquee as specified in the policy wording. Dreamsaver wedding insurance will cover you over the whole hire period (periods longer than 5 days need to be agreed by us), rather than just the wedding or reception date.

The Dreamsaver marquee extension can also include cover for any mobile W.C. units that you may have hired.

Weddings abroad

Increasing numbers of couples are opting to get married abroad and consequently many wedding insurance policies provide cover for weddings abroad.

Dreamsaver wedding insurance gives you cover for your wedding abroad at no additional cost. One thing to note is that wedding insurance only covers the wedding ceremony and reception itself, it does not cover anything to do with travelling to the country where you are getting married: this would be covered under a travel insurance policy.