Marquee Hire Companies

Employers have a legal obligation to carry Employers Liability Insurance which indemnifies the employer in respect of injury to its employees for which it is legally responsible. It is generally accepted by members of the Association of British Insurers that the minimum indemnity limit should be £10m. An employee is deemed to be any individual who undertakes any work for the insured whether paid or not.

There is a common misconception that Employers Liability is not required in regards to self-employed staff. For Marquee Companies this is rarely the case as such staff are normally working under the direction of the Employer, and are not Bona Fide Subcontractors.  A ‘Bona Fide’ Subcontractor carries their own insurance and provides their own method, tools and materials.

The legal penalties of failing to effect adequate Employers Liability insurance are severe, but perhaps even more significant are the implications of the potential cost of a successful claim against an uninsured company. In an increasingly litigious society, personal injury claims are becoming frequent and of greater magnitude.

Following a loss of equipment or premises, a business may not be able to trade as normal until a replacement has been made.

At the beginning of the marquee season, the production lead time of suppliers can be lengthy, causing a major disruption. Business Interruption insurance enables a company to claim for resultant loss of ‘Gross Profit’ or ‘revenue’ relating to contracts which it cannot complete. The insurer can often minimise the claim by enabling the insured to complete contracts by funding the temporary hire or replacement equipment, i.e. the increased cost of working. This is also beneficial to the marquee company as their clients will not be let down, enabling future repeat business and recommendations.

Indemnity period is defined as the period during which the business is affected by the loss and that indemnity period can only be decided by the business itself. As a business you should consider how long it will take to get the business back to its position prior to the interruption taking into account the type of business, lead times to replace stock and even keeping your valuable employees and customers. For example, a shop has a fire and is unable to trade. If it takes 24 months to rebuild that shop, 12 months indemnity would not be enough.

Although not a legal requirement, Public Liability Insurance is essential no matter how small or large your business and is particularly important for businesses that work with or come into close contact with members of the public. Public Liability protects your business against liability claims arising from injury to third party person or damage to third party property where you are proven negligent. Incidents can occur anywhere and at any time, from an employee carrying a marquee pole and accidentally knocking over a garden ornament to a client visiting the office and tripping over a loose bit of carpet and breaking their wrist.

Equipment can be insured on an Indemnity Basis (second hand value) or on a Reinstatement Basis (new for old). In the marquee industry, due to a relatively low availability of second-hand equipment and a need to buy compatible replacement equipment, it is normally advisable to choose the Reinstatement Basis.

Regardless of which option is chosen, the ‘Sum insured’ should accurately reflect the amount of all of your own and hired in equipment.

The HSE refer to “Temporary Demountable Structures, third edition” as the reference guide on this.  On page 79 “Handrails should be provided to all edges of a stage, except the edge facing the audience, whenever possible.” & “There should be a handrail on all except the performance edge(s) of all stages, regardless of height and at every staircase.”

As standard our Policy Wordings automatically include in the Stock section cover for hired in stock for which you are contractually responsible.  Therefore, your Stock Sums Insured should include an allowance for hired in stock.

No. However, we recognise MUTA as the leading Trade Association for the Temporary Structure Industry, and their Best Practice Guide as an Industry benchmark.

Absolutely. It is irresponsible to erect a Marquee without first checking to see if the Marquee can withstand the winds predicted. We suggest you use our weather check.

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