Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Friday, May 03, 2002
Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Friday, May 03, 2002 |
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Money & Banking
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General Insurance Live events turn on insurance cos
Nithya Subramanian
NEW DELHI, May 2 HIGH wattage laser displays and booming music seem to be attracting not only youngsters but also insurance companies. The new private insurance companies see good growth potential in providing insurance cover for live events. "Live events is a growing market and providing insurance to this market is catching up. We will have to do proper cost-benefit studies before devising each specific cover,'' said a senior official at Bajaj Allianz General Insurance Co Ltd. This is definitely good news. "So far, since there were no tailor-made covers for live events, we used to go in for the normal personal accident cover. Only individuals were insured for protection against accident, injury etc. If private companies get in, we can look forward to getting a comprehensive cover,'' the Managing Director of Showtime Events India Pvt Ltd, Mr Michael Menezes, said. The other alternative was insuring shows outside India. "As we do not get a full insurance cover in India, Wizcraft has always been insuring its shows through Indian agents outside,'' said Mr Sabbas Joseph, Director, Wizcraft International Entertainment Pvt Ltd. Though, the live entertainment business, estimated to be Rs 50 crore market, forms a fraction of the entire entertainment sector, it is expected to grow at 25-30 per cent. Officials of such event management companies said that with many more big events in the offing, insurance cover would become all the more important. The stakes go up as the costs of shows rise. It is estimated that the Roger Waters show was put up for at least a few million dollars. "And the cost just goes up depending on the star,'' industry sources said. According to another official from a private insurance company, the policies offered would be basically an accident cover tailor-made for each client. "We would be extending covers for the fixed cost for setting up the shows and also insure the shows against cancellation due to natural causes such as calamities or even for reasons such as the non-showing of the stars,'' he said. However esoteric covers such as cancellation of shows due to last minute pranks of stars would not be included, said the Bajaj Allianz official. But not all new general insurance companies are planning to jump into the bandwagon. Royal Sundaram Alliance Insurance Co Ltd for one, is biding time, averred, Mr Antony Jacob, Deputy Managing Director. Though not yet popular in India, internationally, insuring concerts or live events is big business. The policies cover weather, event cancellation power outage, transportation delays, artist becoming ill, natural disasters, with surcharge for stunts and pyrotechnics. There, the insurance policy normally covers all risks, insures both expenses and net profits, includes cost of rescheduling in lieu of cancellation.
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