July 2010 Update »

Many people ask whether it’s really worth taking wedding insurance out or not.  As with all non-compulsory insurance products, it’s up to the individual to weight up the pros and cons of taking out a policy and balance that with the cost to them should something go wrong and they haven’t taken out cover.

There are many things that could go wrong on your big day. Small things like torn dresses or damage to hired suits may happen quite frequently.  Cancellations due to illness or freak weather (like the recent snow in the UK) happen less frequently but are all the more costly.

What do people claim for?

It’s hard to find sensible statistics on wedding insurance claims for the UK market, but US insurer Wedding Proctector Plan have published statistics for claims made the other side of the Atlantic.

  • Of all wedding insurance claims, a staggering 43% were as a result of a bankrupt venue or vendor. Such a high percentage is possibly related to the current financial climate seen in many countries around the globe.
  • Nearly a quarter of all claims (22%) were for when a close family member suddenly wasn’t able to attend the wedding.  This would usually be as a result of illness.
  • 19% of claims were for a lost ring or damaged dress. Your home insurance policy may also cover you for lost jewellery so it’s worth checking there.
  • Finally, 15% of claims were as a result of adverse weather.

The average cost of a wedding in 2009 was just over £19,000 – that’s a lot of money to lose if something big goes wrong. Wedding insurance certainly isn’t compulsory, but it’s certainly something to give careful consideration to.

Ref: The wedding insurance statistics used in this blog post were published in this article.

Note: Recent statistics published by Travelers Wedding Insurance suggest that the percentage of bankruptcy claims rose even higher in 2009, with 62% of all wedding insurance claims being related to venues or vendors that had gone out of business!

Update: July 2010

Earlier this month, we published the results of study we’ve been carrying out on wedding insurance sales in the UK. We found that for the period between May 2009 and April 2010, the average cancellation cover of a wedding insurance policy was £12,000. However, the average cost of a wedding (excluding honeymoon) for the same period was £17,000. This figure represents and insurance shortfall of £5,000 or around 30 percent of the average wedding budget.

It’s incredibly concerning to discover that couples are potentially underinsuring their weddings by such a large amount. Should the worst happen and they find themselves having to claim for complete cancellation or rearrangement, they may find themselves significantly out of pocket.