Your wedding day should be one of the most special and memorable days of your life, although does come with a hefty price tag. Making sure you have the best wedding insurance in place can give you peace of mind that if something were to go wrong, you’re covered financially.
After the pandemic that has caused thousands of weddings to have either been cancelled or rescheduled, a lot of providers have now changed what they will and won’t cover to limit their liability. This means that it’s even more important now to fully understand what your wedding insurance covers and what to watch our for when comparing quotes.
In this post I’ll run through many of the common questions and pitfalls so you’re well equipped to find the best quote for you.
What Is Wedding Insurance?
Wedding insurance is an insurance product specifically tailored to weddings that protects you against financial loss that occurs as a result of cancellations, supplier failure, venue failure, accidents, illness or anything else linked to your wedding.
Do You Need To Have Wedding Insurance?
Strictly speaking you don’t need to have wedding insurance, however with the average wedding costing around £30,000 and probably set to rise with companies continually increasing their prices, it’s definitely a good idea to make sure you’re covered financially if anything were to go wrong.
With weddings there’s also the added risk of using a lot of smaller suppliers that could go out of business, not only putting you out of pocket for your deposit or even the full fee, but also leaving you having to hire another supplier at short notice possibly at a higher rate.
When To Get Wedding Insurance?
There’s no added benefit to waiting to secure your wedding insurance and the longer you wait the more risk you have as if any issues arise before you secure your policy, they won’t be covered. So as soon as you confirm the date for your wedding and have a rough idea on total expected cost it’s a good idea to make sure you’re covered.
What Does Wedding Insurance Cover?
As with any product or service, the devil is in the detail, so make sure you read the terms and conditions of whatever policy you’re going to purchase so you can be sure it’s right for you.
If you don’t understand anything or need something clarifying it’s best to ask a specialist at the company or an insurance broker.
Below I’ll run through what most wedding insurance providers cover.
- Venue closing down, cancelling your booking or not being fit for purpose
- Supplier issues including not showing up, proving damaged goods and financial failure
- Have to cancel due to illness, an accident or death of close family member
- Lost or stolen items such as rings, dresses and gifts
- Extreme weather conditions (make sure you check what classifies as extreme)
- Personal liability & legal fees to cover injury or venue damage
What Wedding Insurance Does Not Cover?
Knowing what isn’t covered in your wedding insurance can make sure you don’t have any unexpected surprises. As everyone’s wedding is different this might not be a complete list so if you have any questions make sure to ask a specialist or a broker.
- Cold feet (fingers crossed this doesn’t happen!)
- Loss theft or damage to flowers and cake after the reception if left unattended
- Cancellation due to financial difficulty (usually excluding redundancy)
- Cancellation due to pre-existing medical condition
- Marquee cover (usually optional extra)
- Ceremonial swords (usually optional extra)
- Overseas wedding (usually optional extra or separate product)
- Honeymoon (need separate travel insurance)
Average Wedding Insurance Cost
As with many products and services, the prices can vary quite significantly depending on your needs. With the average UK wedding costing around £25,000 the average price for wedding insurance is around £175 which can be quite the useful investment if anything were to go wrong.
The cheapest wedding insurance is around £30, although that will only cover a small event that costs a few thousand. Insurance can then start to increase if you need additional cover such as having a wedding abroad or public liability insurance.
To get a general idea of how much your wedding will cost, you may find this wedding budget breakdown post I’ve written useful.
Wedding Photography Insurance
To a lot of people, the photographer and videographer are at the top of the list of the most important aspects of the day to make sure you can capture your wonderful day. Most wedding insurance providers cover this as standard in their policy for being let down by a supplier, technical problems or poor service.
However, it’s worth noting that photographers and videographers can have their own unique style of capturing the moment. Some prefer a more formal process where a significant amount of time is dedicated to taking traditional wedding photos, whereas others may be light on the traditional photos and opt to be more of a fly on the wall capturing special moments.
Each style has its own positives and negatives so make sure you fully understand what their style is before booking and make sure it’s right for you. Not liking the end result due to them having the wrong style will most likely not be grounds for any insurance claim or refund. Also you’re not going to be able to recapture the moment at the later date as the wedding will have passed, so make sure you do your due diligence in advance.
Wedding Car Hire Insurance
For car hire insurance there are two parts to the insurance you’ll need for your wedding. There’s the cost to actually hire the cars in the first place, which will usually consist of a deposit a number of months before the wedding, then a payment of the final balance just before the actual wedding date. This is the part that is covered by your wedding insurance and needs to be factored into the total value of the wedding you need to be covered.
Then there’s the insurance you need to actually drive around the car you’ve hired. Most of the time this is included within the car hire price, however it’s best to ask the company as it may come with certain limitation such as age or only the person named on the policy can drive the car.
Hiring certain cars, such as classic cars can also come with a driver for the hire period so you won’t need to worry about who can or can’t drive the car.
Overseas Wedding Insurance
When looking to insure a wedding that is overseas make sure to read the fine print of whichever wedding insurance product you’re thinking about buying. Many products specifically only cover a wedding in your home country and not abroad so you may need to look for a specific policy that covers an overseas wedding.
Does Wedding Insurance Cover Your Honeymoon?
No your wedding insurance does not cover your honeymoon and that will need to be insured with a separate travel insurance policy. You don’t need any specific honeymoon insurance policy, regular holiday insurance will be all you need.
If you’re doing anything adventurous on your holiday such as skiing or extreme sports, just remember to make sure that’s included in your policy.
Best Wedding Insurance Companies
When looking for a quote, you can either use one of the popular insurance comparison providers such as MoneySuperMarket, or go directly to a provider. Below are some of the popular providers.
Additional Ways to Reduce Risk
1. Using a credit card
Paying for products and services, including deposits on your credit card can give you an extra level of protection due to section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act which gives you additional rights. Also the credit card company may step in either to give you a full refund or help fight your corner if required.
2. Choosing Trusted Suppliers
Before choosing a supplier make sure to do some background research such as checking their reviews or only taking recommendations from people you trust.
3. Checking in with your suppliers
Once you’ve booked your supplier, keeping in contact with them, especially when it comes nearer to the big day will ensure everything goes smoothly. There could be certain requirements that you need to fulfill such as having rooms ready at certain times or facilities available for storage and making sure everyone is on the same page will avoid any unnecessary problems.
If something goes wrong because you haven’t upheld one of your responsibilities it could make any insurance claim difficult or even impossible.
Summary
Overall, wedding insurance can be an afterthought to many people that are quite rightly overjoyed about planning and booking parts of their magical day. However, making sure you have the best wedding insurance in place for you will mean that if the worst were to happen, you’re covered financially.
Getting wedding insurance only takes a few minutes, although hopefully this post has given you some ideas to make sure you get the right policy for you. Once it’s in place you’ll be able to focus on making sure you have the most magical day, enjoy!
Hi, I’m John. I’ve always had a keen interest in Finance, so much so that I’ve made a career out of it! This site is a place where I can share everything I’ve learned as well as give me the excuse to research certain topics.
Check out my about page for more info.
