The Importance of Good Nightclub Insurance

The events and hospitality industries are exciting ones to work in. From both a business and a personal perspective, the prospect of running a nightclub is uniquely appealing. Owning and or operating a nightclub is an exciting venture. It offers a unique opportunity to operate an entertainment venue that showcases and caters to your preferred tastes. However, it will not be an easy ride!

A nightclub is a complex operation. They come in all variety of shapes and sizes and cater to every conceivable taste. However, if you don’t make sure to take out the correct insurance on your nightclub, then otherwise manageable incidents can end up putting a serious drain on your resources. In the rare cases of serious loss of, or damage to, property, having nightclub insurance in place can make the difference between the business failing completely, and a smooth, if prolonged, recovery to its previous state.

Potential Loss of Licence

In cases where serious events occur, and the nightclub is found to be liable, the potential penalties can include the loss of the venue’s licence. Venue’s need to be licensed to host music entertainment, and to sell alcohol, among other things. These licenses are awarded individually and can be revoked individually, although in practice, losing just one of them often has the same outcome – forcing the venue to close until it is recertified.

The popular London nightclub Fabric is a perfect example of how even a well established, popular club can be hit hard by having a licence suspended or revoked. In the case of Fabric, it was an inadequate drugs policy which led to the nightclub having its licence revoked. Two people sadly died drug-related deaths while at the venue. This, in addition to poor staff intervention when drug-use or drug-related illness was reported, was cited among the list of justifications for the revocation.

A situation like the one Fabric found itself in will almost certainly result in its closure, at least while an investigation is carried out. For most businesses, even a single night of closure means forfeiting some pretty significant profits, and so the threat of having a licence revoked is an effective one. However, if you find yourself facing temporary closure, then nightclub insurance will help to soften the blow.

Contents

If your nightclub is successful, then it is going to be hosting large crowds of enthusiastic revellers. It is all but guaranteed that something is going to get broken or damaged at some point. Whether it’s club equipment, fixtures, furniture, or just about anything else. Even if your clientele are particularly gentle with their surroundings and nothing gets accidentally broken, there is always going to be a degree of inevitable wear and tear. In more sinister scenarios, club equipment often makes an attractive target for thieves, especially as a lot of high-end audio equipment is easy to conceal and carry.

As the owner of a nightclub, you will inevitably be spending quite a lot of time there. You, and your manager if you have someone else who runs the nightclub day-to-day (or night-to-night), will probably have an office space where you and they leave a phone, laptop, and other valuables. Have a look at the kind of insurance that you could purchase for your business; a great place to begin is nightclub insurance from Compare My Insurance if your new club needs a nightclub insurance policy. They understand the way nightclubs function and attempt to accommodate their insurance needs.

Fire

Fire is a situation that every venue owner dreads, in fact, anyone who owns a building used by the public dreads the outbreak of a large fire. Fortunately, we are now much more conscious of fire hazards resulting from construction than we used to be. Buildings are now designed with fires in mind, so it is possible to minimise the risk of fires spreading and people becoming trapped with some simple construction techniques.

Fire safety is clearly incredibly important. Of course, as a business owner, you would have to consider the financial costs to your business that would result from property damage caused by fire. But it is the potential for injury and death to those caught in a fire. The tragic Station Nightclub fire is a harrowing example of how quickly a fire can take hold of a building if just a few regulations are ignored.

Clearly, with an incident such as the Station Nightclub fire, insurance is the last consideration, however, the speed with which the flames rendered the entire structure unsalvageable illustrate what fire can do. In an empty nightclub that catches fire while no one is around, even with sprinkler systems and alarms, there is the potential for huge damage to property.

Fires can be started by carelessness, but sometimes electrical issues can also be to blame. Whenever you have construction work going on, especially if wires are being exposed, there is a heightened risk of a fire starting from an electrical spark.

Public Liability

In a busy nightclub, you will have the potentially explosive combination of lots of people packed in close together and alcohol flowing (relatively) freely. Even with vigilant and professional bartenders and security staff, almost all nightclubs eventually have an incident where an altercation breaks out and someone is injured. Nightclub insurance will give you public liability coverage, covering you in the case of a patron seeking compensation for an injury they sustained on your premises.

If someone is injured because they slipped on a wet floor that wasn’t clearly marked, then you could be held liable. These claims would be pursued in the same way as claims that a failure to promptly intervene on the part of club security has led to people being injured needlessly. Even if an initial incident or altercation cannot be stopped, if the delay in the security staff responding leads to excessive, avoidable injuries, then the club can still be considered liable.

A nightclub is one of those businesses that are likely to really feel even a single night of lost profits. As a result, it isn’t good enough to react to situations when they arise. Instead, nightclubs need to be proactive in preventing incidents. Nightclub insurance will protect you financially when things do go wrong and it is important that you choose your plan carefully.

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