Wedding Insurance
Wedding Insurance Introduction:
Last year my friend Jason decided to marry his long time girlfriend Tina in the month of December. Everybody was very excited and chipped in to make the occasion a grand one. Accordingly, all the arrangements were made but all our efforts went in vain.
A couple of weeks before the Marriage-Day Jason met with an accident and was hospitalized for more than a month. His marriage got postponed and to add to his misery he could not recover the money that he paid in advance to the vendors and to the venue. All the wedding insurance cards were also wasted. This incident taught me a lesson which I want to share with you all.
We all know that marriages are made in heaven and hence have to plan for the event well in advance. Since it is one of the most important occasions in our life, we want to protect this from any unforeseen events/disasters. Every year out of million weddings throughout the world, many get cancelled or postponed due to some unavoidable circumstances. These unforeseen catastrophes not only hurt the emotions and spirit of the unfortunate couples but also put them in heavy financial crisis. Here comes the importance of a wedding insurance which covers the insurer from different adversities of life.
Wedding Insurance generally covers the following:
i) Lost wedding rings and/or other jewelries
ii) Wedding attire
iii) Wedding flowers
iv) Wedding cake
v) Wedding stationeries
vi) Wedding documents
vii) Gifts for staffs
viii) The caterers not able to turn up at the reception
ix) The wedding car fails to arrive
x) Damage of Public Liability property
xi) Wedding cancellation or postponement due to (a) illness or injury to bride or groom or their immediate blood relations (parents, grandparents, siblings, or children), (b) rearranging the ceremony due to extremely poor weather conditions or natural disasters viz., typhoons, earthquakes, hurricanes, snowstorms, etc. (c) damage of wedding venue etc.
xii) Photo/Video coverage i.e., if the photographs and videos are damaged or destroyed
xiii) If the vendors are bankrupt and fail to provide required service even after taking advance payment
xiv) Any type of legal expenses (if incurred)
Apart from these major covers, one can opt for additional riders viz., covering the gifts specially the expensive ones, postponement of Honeymoon etc.
Even in case of the bride or groom working in Military, they can cover for postponement if they are called on duty in emergency situations.
Want to fly abroad and marry your sweetheart
For the people who want to marry abroad there is no reason to worry as there are policies which cover marriages abroad. In these cases the couples are additionally covered with the following:
i) Passports
ii) Delayed or deferred travel
iii) Luggage
Cost of Weddings is going up in U.S. and U.K.
A study in the United States revealed that on an average $26.5K$27.0K is spent on wedding insurance and this could go up to $30.0K in the next couple of years or so. Similarly, in the United Kingdom people spend around 12.0K14.0K per wedding on an average. These amounts are not by any means insignificant and hence the concept of wedding insurance is gaining prominence day by day.
If you think you have to pay too much premium for the cover, you are absolutely wrong. Premiums in U.S. start for around $200 and goes up depending upon the risk policy. Think of a situation where you have to make similar monetary investment either to buy a car or purchase a house. What will you do then The answer is simple; you will surely insure the product. So why not for wedding
Here comes the most important part i.e., which policy to choose
This will primarily depend on individuals, their wedding budget, how much they want to pay as premiums etc.
The first thing you need to do is to contact the key players in this sector and request at least 34 various policy quotations from them. After this you have to compare each of them laying a stress on your exact needs i.e., what items you want to cover for your wedding. Typically almost all policies have a two weeks cooling off period to make sure that you are satisfied with the policy.
After choosing a particular policy the first thing you have to do is to read and understand the policy i.e., what exactly it will cover and not cover. You have to sit with your Insurance agent and examine the policy with all its clauses thoroughly. This is very important to avoid any horrible misunderstanding at the time of claim if need arises. This has been a very common feature with common people as they tend to overlook the policy details and face the consequences at the time of claim.
Now its time to look into things which the wedding insurance policies do not generally cover:
i) Either the bride or the groom or both are unwilling to marry each other
ii) A pre-existing illness or injury occurred to the bride or groom or to their immediate family members.
iii) Lack of funds (with an exception of unemployment after purchasing the cover)
iv) Many insurance companies do not cover gift vouchers, money orders, monetary gifts etc.
v) Policies usually do not cover any engagement parties, bachelor and bachelorette parties
When should one purchase wedding insurance
This is purely an individuals decision and can vary from person to person. Some may prefer to purchase the cover one or two years prior to their marriage and others may prefer to wedding insurance a couple of weeks before. Always remember that the policy will come to effect only when the wedding date is confirmed.
Conclusion
Let me end from where I began. If Jason was prudent enough to cover his wedding insurance then at least he could recover most of the investments he made towards his marriage.
Wedding insurance is a safety weapon which protects you financially from any unexpected calamities and misfortunes of life.
Other Articles