Of course, nobody wants to think about any disaster on the wedding day. But this life as we all know is full of uncertainties, and nothing can be predicted beforehand. Yes, we all want everything to be good for ourselves. But, there is no harm in staying prepared for anything in life and that’s where the wedding insurance comes into the picture. And yeah, I am not asking you to be negative about it or to take it personally.
More often than not, people don’t like word Insurance in their lives, be it any kind of insurance. I don’t know why, but this word is taken very negatively by all of us. But trust that Insurance is for help in case of emergencies and urgencies. You never know when an ordinary looking insurance can turn out to be a life savior. Disasters in life can strike anytime even on your wedding day, without any prior notice. From a sudden cancellation of wedding to stolen gifts, wedding insurance not only help protect you against the unforeseen, but also they can afford you great peace of mind.
In this post I am sharing with you all about the wedding insurance, like what exactly it is, how does it work, and why should you have a wedding insurance. Keep reading…
What Is Wedding Insurance?
Like any other insurance, wedding insurance is against unforeseen. Wedding insurance is a type of event insurance that protects a couple’s investment from circumstances beyond their control, and reimburses expenses incurred. For instance, events causing damage or injury at a wedding, extreme weather conditions, external event(s) beyond your control that may obstruct your wedding from occurring, issues with wedding supplier or vendors or venue, etc. Basically, these are the types of wedding day financial losses that a wedding insurance can provide protection from.
There are two different types of wedding insurance:
Cancellation Coverage
Liability Coverage
And the choice is yours, you can either purchase both the two in a bundle that will cover both or separately or only one. But make sure you ask your venue if they cover event liability, before you buy wedding insurance. Wedding event liability coverage takes care of different things, such as bodily injury and property damage.
Also, you may need to add “Host liquor liability insurance” that covers alcohol-related incidents.
Things That Wedding Insurance Covers:
There are 7 things that a wedding insurance covers
Dress damage or wedding attire coverage: Just imagine suddenly your wedding gown got damaged… Now what??? Wedding insurance also provides wedding attire coverage.
Extreme Weather Conditions: Any extreme weather conditions that prevent the bride, groom, any relative whose presence at the wedding is crucial or the majority of the wedding guests from reaching the wedding venue. In such a case (s), wedding insurance covers rescheduling the wedding and all the other details involved, such as wedding decor, wedding reception food, and tent rental.
Issues with Vendor (s): Wedding insurance also covers issues with vendors, for example if your wedding photographer or the wedding caterer fail to show up. A wedding insurance policy will cover postponement or cancellation of the wedding for these reasons as well.
Lost or stolen gifts: Wedding is a pricey affair and everything in the wedding is pricey… Wedding insurance also covers lost or stolen gifts.
Military Deployment: If your partner is a military personnel, then he/she may be shipped out at a moment’s notice. Wedding insurance also covers postponement of the wedding in case the bride or the groom suddenly getting called to military duty. Also, the same rule applies to a last-minute corporate move, for instance the bride’s company suddenly relocated her to another city.
People getting sick or injured: Any sickness or injury to the bride, groom or anyone essential to the wedding is also covered under wedding insurance.
Property or Wedding Site Damage: In case of any damage, where your wedding is scheduled to happen also come under wedding insurance cover. More often than not, these wedding sites are insured, you check beforehand whether your ceremony and reception venue is already insured or not. And if it’s not, then a wedding insurance will cover the cost that arises due to any unavoidable cancellation such as damage or inaccessibility to the ceremony site, if your reception hall got burned in a fire and now it is unable to honor your reservation, or experienced an electrical outage or just closed down. In some cases this policy also covers the rehearsal dinner site.
NOTE: Usually, there is a specified maximum amount that can be claimed under each section, and a deductible also applies. Make sure you find out the details of your insurance plan before you buy it.
Know about special limitations in the policy for wedding insurance coverage*
Remember, every wedding insurance policy is different with different policy limits or special features that depends on the insurance company you purchase coverage from. The above list contains commonly covered things on wedding insurance policy for you to ask about, while you make purchase.
*Military deployment, for instance, may or may not be covered by all wedding insurance. So, it is recommended that you ask about the details of the special limits in the policy from the insurance company you are buying your wedding insurance from and make sure your own specific concerns are “covered” under your wedding insurance policy.
What’s Not Covered In Wedding Insurance Policy?
Wedding insurance policy doesn’t cover a change of heart. Meaning, when people get cold feet or pull out of a wedding it doesn’t count in wedding insurance.
Items such as your watches, jewelry or semiprecious gemstones or pearls (even when they are attached to clothing) may not be covered.
While your wedding rings may be covered under the policy, but your engagement ring probably will not be covered.
Basically, wedding insurance is for the things, which are not within the couple’s control putting their event at risk.
Will Home Insurance Cover Your Wedding?
No, because your wedding insurance is not a personal insurance, therefore your home insurance is not meant to cover a wedding. However, there are many home insurance companies that can offer you riders or event liability policies and help you in buying the right insurance coverage for your event.
Your home insurance policy covers only your personal liability and personal property. For your wedding insurance you need to find out from your home insurance what if gifts get stolen, or if your mother’s necklace disappears off your neck during your wedding. These things may be covered in the policy, but subject to the deductible.
Why Should You Get Wedding Insurance?
Your wedding is not only a once-in-a-lifetime event, but also it’s a pricey event. A lot of time, all the efforts and wedding planning you do to celebrate your special day don’t work out. Things can go wrong anytime. But by having a wedding insurance policy the insurance company will have your back if something goes wrong that will be covered. Remember that the cost of wedding insurance is too less compared to the cost of the wedding and what is at risk.
Before you buy wedding insurance policy, check with each of your vendors and venue and see if they are covered. So you wouldn’t pay for overlapping coverage out of your own pocket. Ask your vendors for a copy of their insurance policy, and then figure out where to spend on policy.
Here is an example:
Liza and John spend almost a year planning their wedding. But just at their wedding eve, their reception site was burnt to the ground. But luckily they had the right wedding insurance policy, the couple could postpone their wedding and receive every penny they lost (minus the deductible)—which includes money spent on the wedding invites, cake, catering, and also the nonrefundable deposits for the floral designer, ceremony musicians, and other wedding suppliers.
How Much Does Wedding Insurance Cost?
Wedding insurance policies varies, a basic insurance policy that will cover loss of attire, photos, videos, rings, deposits, and presents normally costs anywhere between $155 and $550, depending on the amount of coverage you want. Depending on the various options and packages a wedding insurance can cost you around $200 – $550. General wedding event liability insurance however, costs around around $175 for $1 million of coverage.
When Should You Get Wedding Insurance?
The sooner the better. Yes, you should start looking for wedding insurance policy options as soon as you start your wedding planning and have an idea of the venue. Most insurance companies have limitations on how far in advance you should purchase a wedding insurance. For instance, you booked your wedding reception hall 12 months prior to your wedding day and suddenly the venue got burnt to the ground a few weeks before your wedding day. With wedding insurance you will surely get your deposit back.
What to Check Before You Buy A Wedding Insurance?
First things first, understand your needs first, what exactly you are most interested in insuring yourself against. For instance, if you have special jewels sewn into your wedding attire and you want that to be, ask your wedding insurance company if there are limits for this kind of item. Because, jewelry, gems, or special items may not be covered under a wedding insurance policy or may be limited.
Ask your wedding venue if they are insured, and what all they cover.
Also, ask your home insurance provider what all they cover and if they can add a rider to your home policy.
In case if your parents are paying for your wedding or for the venue, have them contact their home insurance company to ask if they have any coverage.
Take details from four to five wedding insurance companies, compare the coverage, understand what they cover and under what conditions. Once you know which the best wedding insurance is, buy it.
If you have some coverage on your home insurance then ask your policy provider if you can insure your engagement rings on a rider on your home policy. Some insurance companies even offer engagement ring insurance as a stand-alone.
Different insurance companies have different policy wordings, so it is recommended to ask all your important questions before buying a wedding insurance, so that you don’t
Over insure yourself
Double insure yourself
Buy insurance that doesn’t serve the purpose.
Additional Coverage
You can also take out additional wedding coverage to protect yourself against damages incurred by other wedding-related items like photography, videography and gifts.
Gifts: Valuable items like wedding gifts are something that you might want to consider insuring. Gift coverage pays for repair or replace non-monetary gifts that are lost, stolen or damaged during the wedding. For stolen gifts, you require to lodge a police complaint and the report will be needed by the insurance company. The damage or theft usually has to happen within a limited time period (ranging from 24 hours to 7 days, depending on the wedding insurance policy) before or after the wedding, in order to be covered.
Honeymoon: Honeymoons are also expensive affairs, especially if it is some international location. But before you consider to buy a travel insurance to protect your investment, just see if your credit card and/or home insurance covers you if your luggage gets stolen, your trip is delayed or you have to cancel. If not, then you can buy a separate, trip-only policy. Ask your insurer, or your travel agent for details. Also, some wedding insurance companies provide packages that includes optional travel insurance for your honeymoon.
Medical coverage: This covers reasonable medical expenses (up to the policy’s limits) for everybody who get injured during the covered events from a cause of loss that would be covered by your personal liability.
Personal liability: Personal liability will cover bodily injury or property damage caused or happened because of an accident that occurs during the course of the wedding.
Photography: Some wedding insurance policies pay to retake the photographs if in case the photographer fails to appear or the original negatives are lost, damaged, stolen or if they are not properly developed. Some policies however, will pay to re-stage the event with the main participants so that wedding pictures can be retaken. A policy may also cover the costs for rehiring a photographer and buying a new wedding cake and new flowers.
Videographer: If a wedding videotape produced by a professional videographer is damaged (maybe because the videographer used faulty materials), a policy generally pays a certain amount to have either a video montage created, a video miscellany made of the wedding photographs and other wedding keepsake, or, if possible, a re-staging the event with the main participants so that retaking of the official video can be done.
Wedding Attire: Wedding attire coverage pays to repair or replace the bridal gown or other special attire when that is in your possession and is damaged, lost, or stolen, which also includes the financial failure of the bridal store. Special attire generally includes the clothing and accessories bought or rented for the bride, groom and attendants at the ceremony.
Things to Consider While Buying A Wedding Insurance Policy*
Every wedding scenario and every wedding insurance policy is different. So, it is crucial to talk to your insurance agent and take all the details related to the wedding insurance policy. Once you thoroughly understood the details and compared the policy with other policy providers also, then you buy it!!
