EVENT INSURANCE
The venue has sent the booking form and there is a line asking for a $20 million certificate of currency. Here is what that cover is, who we arrange it for, what sets the cost, what it does not do, and how to get the certificate in time.
Premiums and outcomes described are specific to this client and indicative only. Your own terms will depend on your circumstances and the insurer.
THE SHORT ANSWER
What is one-off event public liability insurance, and how much does it cost?
One-off event public liability insurance covers your legal liability for injury to attendees and the public, and damage to their property, at a single event, usually to a $20 million limit because that is what councils and many venues require. Premiums vary widely from event to event. Event cover placed through Tank usually starts at around $1,000 all up. For weddings, private parties and small one-off events, Marsh and Aon Direct both sell event cover online, priced for smaller events, as long as their eligibility limits and exclusions suit what you are running. Above that starting point, each event is priced on its own details: the crowd, the activities, alcohol and the claims history, with an excess commonly of $500 to $1,000 in our events specialist's experience. It does not cover injuries to the organiser, staff or volunteers, or your own equipment. Once it is bound, you receive a certificate of currency to give the venue.
Every event is priced on its own details. Your quote will itemise premium, fees, GST and stamp duty. Also searched as single event or one day event insurance.
Ticketed public events, festivals and concerts, sporting events and competitions (including boxing), conferences, expos and larger community events, usually with 300 or more people and a budget over $30,000. Also organisers who run events through the year. Cover usually starts at around $1,000 all up, and we need at least 2 weeks before the event.
Weddings, private parties, dance parties, small one-off functions, and suppliers or performers working at someone else's event. Marsh (small event insurance) and Aon Direct (event insurance) both sell one-off event cover online, priced for smaller events.
Our events specialist
Shaneel Gounden
Account Executive
A common wrong assumption, in our events specialist's experience, is that public liability covers the organiser's own injuries, or those of staff and volunteers. It does not. That need is met by voluntary workers personal accident or personal accident cover.
Previously in the Entertainment and Sports team at Marsh, placing event liability, cancellation and prize cover, then in events at Aon.
General information only. It does not take into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Consider the relevant PDS and TMD before deciding, and cover is subject to the policy terms.
| What happens | Event public liability? | What responds instead |
|---|---|---|
| A guest trips over a cable and is injured | Yes, where you are legally liable | This is what the cover is for |
| You damage the hired hall's floor during set-up | Can be, subject to the wording and the facts | Property in your care can be sub-limited, around $250,000 in some wordings |
| A guest slips because of the venue's own faulty floor | Usually the venue's claim | Where the venue was negligent, it falls to the venue's cover, not yours |
| A volunteer is hurt setting up | No | Voluntary workers personal accident |
| The organiser is injured | No | Personal accident cover |
| Your sound system is stolen or damaged | No | Equipment or portable contents cover |
| A storm cancels the event | No | Event cancellation with adverse weather |
| A stallholder's food makes someone sick | Not under yours by default | The stallholder's own liability cover, or bundled into your policy if arranged |
In our events specialist's experience, damage to hired halls and venues (floors and fittings) is among the most common event liability claims. Whether one is paid depends on the facts, the hire agreement and the wording. Where a guest slips and the investigation finds the venue was negligent, the claim falls to the venue's insurance rather than the organiser's.
An awards night, staff party or gala at an established venue with a controlled guest list. The venue runs the premises and often the bar, so there are fewer questions and the cover is usually simpler to place.
Open access, outdoor sites, temporary structures, amusements and alcohol all bring more underwriting questions. Attendance, whether the crowd is seated or standing, and the security arrangements drive the price.
Rides, inflatables, fireworks, animals, water activities, open fires, camping, and sport or adventure activities are excluded by some small-event products and referred by others. List everything that will happen on the day.
Acceptable with the right liquor licence and RSA-qualified bar staff. Some small-event products carry a higher excess for alcohol-related claims. If the venue runs the bar under its licence, say so.
Either require each stallholder to hold their own public liability, or have some or all of them bundled into the organiser's policy when we place the event.
Collect certificates from caterers, hire companies, security and entertainers. Underwriters are more comfortable when contractors carry their own insurance.
Premiums vary widely from event to event. Event cover placed through Tank usually starts at around $1,000 all up. For weddings, private parties and small one-off events, Marsh and Aon Direct both sell event cover online, priced for smaller events, as long as their eligibility limits and exclusions suit what you are running. Above that starting point, each event is priced on its own details: the crowd, the activities, alcohol and the claims history. Your quote will itemise premium, fees, GST and stamp duty.
Pushes it up: outdoor sites, standing or dancing crowds, alcohol, prior claims for the event or the organiser, and higher-risk formats. Brings it down: indoor and seated events, a clean claims history, third-party security and structures with their own insurance, and a proper risk management plan. More on the event insurance cost page.
A charity foundation needed $20 million public liability for a 500-guest fundraiser gala at a major Sydney venue. Serving alcohol and RSA were the venue's responsibility, not the foundation's, which we confirmed with the client and passed to the underwriters before formal terms were issued. Two specialist event markets quoted approximately $1,400 each, including GST and stamp duty, and cover was placed. Read the charity gala case study.
Once cover is bound, the insurer issues a certificate of currency showing the insured, the limit and the period of cover. Make sure the period includes set-up and pack-down days, and check whether the venue or council needs to be named as an interested party. The council venue requirements page covers the details.
Aim to have public liability sorted around 90 days ahead where you can, particularly if the certificate is needed for a booking or grant application. If your business needs public liability all year rather than for one day, look at annual public liability insurance instead. Caterers and hire companies working your event should hold their own cover; see caterers insurance and dry hire insurance.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
QUOTE REQUEST
Tell us the event, date and venue, expected attendance, whether alcohol is served and by whom, any activities or stallholders, and when the venue needs the certificate.
Send the booking form's insurance clause with your event details. We will take it to specialist event markets, come back to you with the options available, and confirm what the certificate can show before it is issued.
Last updated: 01/10/2026
