What you need to know to be in the know about insurance!

Below you will find some frequently asked questions about our policies! Have a question about your policy you don't see below? Please contact our office by emailing info@specialtyinsuranceagency.com or calling our office at 715-246-8908.

1. Can I add an individual as additionally insured? No, only an event or venue may be listed as additionally insured. However, if you are performing or vending on private property, you can list "Property of" and then the individual's name. If you have any questions about filling out the certificate request form, please call our office at 715-246-8908 or send an email to certs@specialtyinsuranceagency.com. 
    
2. What are some of the specific roles an assistant can do? What can an assistant not do? First, an assistant can never be another performer. A few examples of what an assistant can do include include the following: Helping with set up and tear down for a show, managing the crowd, fire safety, handing items to the main performer, or a staged spectator that is called on to assist. If you have a question about what your assistant does and if it can be covered, please reach out to a member of our staff by sending an email to info@specialtyinsuranceagency.com or calling our office at 715-246-8908. Also, an assistant is not a named individual on your policy so it does not need to be the same person for each performance/appearance. 
    
3. What types of incidents does my policy cover? The Commercial General Liability policy covers you for bodily injury and property damage to others (like a patron tripping over your equipment or any property damage as a result of your performance/vending), personal and advertising injury (like if someone is offended because of your performance or product), and products-completed operations (like if someone was hurt by something you sold after the fact). Please note that this policy does not cover any injury you sustain - that would be covered by your personal health insurance. If you're a performer you can read more about your policy here, if you are a vendor you can read more about your policy here. Those covered by our Music, Photos, and Event Planners (MPEP) program can read more here. If you ever have any questions about what your policy covers, please feel free to contact a member of our team by emailing info@specialtyinsuranceagency.com or calling our office at 715-246-8908. 
    
4. Do I get a full year of coverage? If you purchase an annual policy, yes! Your policy covers you for a full 365 days from the requested start date. If you purchase a single event policy, then you are only covered for one event for up to 10 days.
    
5. Can I upgrade my single event policy? Yes! However, single event policies must be upgraded within 30 days of the start date. To upgrade your policy, simply give our office a call at 715-246-8908 to pay the remaining balance (your remaining balance will be the cost of the annual policy minus the amount you paid for the single event policy).
    
6. Does the performer policy cover my entire group/band? The performer policy only covers the individual, however our Music, Photos, and Event Planners (MPEP) program can cover DJs, bands, event/wedding planners, and select performing groups. Read more about the MPEP program here! 
    
7. Where is my coverage valid? Just the state I live in or the entire country? Your policy covers you throughout the United States, Canada, and the U.S.-owned islands of St. Thomas, St. John, St. Croix, Puerto Rico, and Guam. 
    
8. Does the vendor policy cover my employees, independent contractors, and volunteers? The vendor policy covers your business, but only includes you, your employees, and volunteers. If you hire an independent contractor and there is a loss arising out of the acts of that person, there is no coverage. 
    
9. As an individual performer I am being asked to obtain workers compensation coverage, what do I do? First, we recommend clients ask the event/venue requiring Workers Compensation (WC) if it can be stricken from your contract as you are an individual performer. Often times events/venues have a standard contract they send out, but many times it can be modified. If they are adamant on the coverage, we recommend doing a Google search for Workers Compensation coverage in the state you will be performing in. However, typically as a sole proprietor there is nothing to cover under Workers Compensation, since WC is meant to cover employees. WC laws differ from state to state, and SIA does not offer an option to add it to your policy. 
    
10. Do you offer auto liability? Unfortunately, SIA does not offer auto liability. We recommend asking the event/venue to have this stricken from your contract. If the event/venue will not budge on the requirement we suggest checking with your personal auto insurance provider. 
     
11. Do you cover foam parties? Yes! Foam parties can obtain insurance through our performer policy. Please note that you, the individual may obtain coverage, not the company as a whole. If you, the certificate holder, will be on the premises for every party, you may add an employee as an assistant for $95/person to your policy. If you have employees running foam parties on their own, they must hold their own Performer policy.
     
12. When submitting a certificate of additionally insured, should I choose includes setup and teardown, ongoing for policy period, or N/A? If you will be on the premises for your event a day before or after the event dates, you'll want to select includes setup and teardown. If you will be at an event/venue more than once a year, select ongoing for policy period. This way, you only need to submit one certificate for the event/venue per policy period. Finally, N/A may be selected if you only need the certificate for the exact dates of the event. If you have any questions while filling out your certificate, please email certs@specialtyinsuranceagency.com.
     
13. Can I make a change to a certificate I've already requested? Yes! To make a change, email certs@specialtyinsuranceagency.com with what you need fixed. Check out the Dos and Don'ts of Certificate Requests for more tips! 
     
14. Is there a way for me to access my certificates online? Yes! Once you've logged in to your account, scroll down on your client dashboard to the "policy documents" section and you will see your proof of insurance and any certificates you've been issued.