Although it may not occur to many touring comedians to acquire touring insurance coverage, it is just as necessary as in any other industry. Touring represents a major source of income for many comedians, and there are many potential liabilities that could interfere with your primary revenue stream.
A Touring Insurance Policy can protect you in the event that something happens to end your tour or prevent it altogether. It can also protect you from unexpected financial issues due to a tour being cut short.
Protecting Your Tour Plans
You never know what might happen. You might get sick and need to cancel your tour. A venue may have to cancel one of your appearances, or your vehicle might break down and prevent you from making it to a show.
Touring insurance will help you out in any of those scenarios. Not only can touring insurance help to replace lost income, it can also help you if you face legal action related to a missed tour date. We know that you cannot always control what happens, and you may have to cancel a show for reasons beyond your control. Touring insurance ensures you have coverage for costs that stem from an unfortunate incident.
What Does Touring Insurance Cover?
Tour Insurance is a comprehensive policy that provides several different coverages within it. Below, we discuss the different kinds of coverage generally found in a tour insurance policy.
General Liability Insurance
The first thing that Tour Insurance provides is General Liability coverage. This will protect you from any claims of bodily injury or property damage that occur during your tour. If someone attending one of your shows gets injured in the crowd, they can sue you for damages. You may be liable for their medical bills and replacing their income while they cannot work. In that case, General Liability insurance will cover the costs.
If fans at one of your shows damage the venue in any way, you could be held liable for repair costs. This is another thing that General Liability insurance will cover.
Inland Marine Insurance
Inland Marine Insurance covers all of your movable property while you are touring. While comedians have less of this than musicians, you still probably have microphones, sound equipment and possibly props that need to be moved from one show to the next.
Even computers are covered under this policy, so long as they are related to your work and are traveling on tour with you. Any movable equipment that is part of your work is covered. That way if it gets damaged or accidentally broken, it is easy to replace.
Commercial Auto Insurance
If you are using your own vehicle or renting one for your tour, you need Commercial Auto Insurance. Accidents happen, and your personal auto policy may not provide adequate coverage.
Commercial Auto Insurance covers owned, rented, borrowed and non-owned vehicles for the duration of your tour. This coverage provides liability and physical damage coverage. Liability coverage protects against bodily injury and property damage you may inflict on others, while physical damage coverage protects you in the event of damage or theft of the vehicle.
Commercial Auto Insurance as part of your Touring Insurance Policy will not only pay for damages to your car, but it will pay for damages to the other car as well, if needed. It will also cover you even if you are renting or borrowing the car, which is something your regular auto policy definitely will not do.
Workers’ Comp
If you have any sort of crew following you on tour, workers’ comp insurance is important. As their employer, you are liable if anyone on your crew gets injured or sick in the line of work. You will be required to pay medical bills and replacement income, or benefits to the family if they die. Workers’ comp handles those payments for you so that you are not financially crippled by such an accident.
Give Your Audience the Best Show with Protected Equipment
One of the things that can be added on to Touring Insurance is Staging and Rigging Insurance. These policies ensure that the equipment you need for your show is covered and can be replaced if it is damaged.
Equipment for a show may include lighting, microphones and sound equipment. These are all expensive pieces of equipment, and can be costly to repair or replace. Staging and Rigging Insurance is designed to cover any repair or replacement to this kind of equipment so that you don’t break the bank if something happens.
Sizing up Your Tour’s Needs
As a comedian, your insurance needs are unique, and you need a Touring Insurance policy that is tailored to your unique needs. MFE Insurance offers Touring Insurance policies that can be easily adjusted based on the specific coverage you need. Contact us today for information or to acquire coverage for your tour.