Liberty International Underwriters and Liberty Syndicates, divisions of Liberty Mutual Insurance Group, have launched an initiative to provide a new Event Cancellation product for clients in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA).
The product is focused predominantly on short tail contingency risks such as cancellation, abandonment or postponement of sporting events, trade shows and conferences, as well as non-appearance of key speakers. The Event Cancellation policy is aimed at event organisers and promoters, as well as any business that has a financial interest in a particular event, from the MENA region.
With capacity available of up to USD$10m per risk, the cover is expected to meet a growing demand for contingency cover, which is being fuelled by high profile global events taking place this summer.
Commenting on the launch of the new product, Eli Bouchaaya, MENA regional manager for LIU said: “There is a frustration amongst the broking community in the MENA region towards the lack of local capacity when it comes to contingency business. We believe that by combining the underwriting expertise, capacity and local presence that Liberty Syndicates and LIU can offer, our Event Cancellation product is meeting a real gap in the market.”
Daniel Gray of Liberty Syndicates said: “We’ve developed a real specialism in contingency business over recent years, so by combining with LIU we’re able to offer that service to a new market, backed up by LIU’s local presence and its market intelligence. We feel this is a very powerful way in which Liberty can really maximize its potential.”
Cover is usually provided for all risks beyond the control of the insured (other than those risks excluded) which cause cancellation, abandonment or postponement of an insured event. Examples of insured perils may be venue damage, adverse weather or accident/illness which results in the non-appearance of an artist. Cancellation due to terrorism is excluded from the standard policy wording but is considered as a buy-back option (although not on a stand-alone basis).
