Event Insurance NZ: Public Liability for Organisers, Stallholders and Photographers
Event insurance in New Zealand usually starts with public liability: cover for your legal liability if the event injures a member of the public or damages someone else's property. It can be bought for a single event or for a year of trading. No general law requires it, but venues, councils and market organisers commonly ask for a certificate of currency before they confirm a booking. Cancellation, equipment and professional indemnity are separate covers.
In short
- Start with the booking, not the policy. Find the insurance clause in the venue agreement, market application or permit, and note the limit, the dates and who must be named.
- A one-off event and a stall that trades every weekend are different risks. Tell the adviser which you are.
- Public liability does not pay for a cancelled event, lost equipment, or a mistake in work you deliver.
What venues, councils and markets ask for
- A certificate of currency before the booking is confirmed
- A limit named in the hire agreement, stall application or permit
- The venue or council named as an interested party
- Dates, venue and expected attendance
- Your own certificate, even if the organiser has cover
A cable, a peg or a gazebo leg
Guests trip, and pegs damage buried irrigation on a hired park.
Wind and display collapse
Gazebos and signage blow over onto neighbouring stalls and cars.
Lost files at a wedding
A photographer's failure to deliver is a professional indemnity matter.
Cancellation
Public liability does not repay deposits or ticket sales when an event is called off.
Work out what to raise
Tick what applies to you
- I organise events
Venues and councils often ask for a certificate first.
Covers to raise: Public liability, Statutory liability
- I run a stall or sell at markets
Covers to raise: Public liability, Tools and equipment
- I photograph or film events
Covers to raise: Professional indemnity, Tools and equipment, Public liability
- I hire out gear or entertainment
Covers to raise: Public liability, Tools and equipment, Business vehicles
- Crowds could reach 1,000 or more
Covers to raise: Public liability, Statutory liability
- There is food, alcohol or hot drinks
Covers to raise: Public liability
- There are rides, fireworks, marquees or drones
Tell the adviser so the wording is checked.
Covers to raise: Public liability
- A venue or council wants to be named on the certificate
Covers to raise: Public liability
What these covers do not pay
- Cancellation. Public liability does not repay deposits or ticket sales when an event is called off.
- Your marquees, sound gear or cameras under public liability. That is a separate cover.
- A photographer failing to deliver is a professional indemnity question, not public liability.
- Activities you did not describe, such as fireworks or rides.
- Health and safety fines, which can never be insured (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s 29).
General information only. Whether a cover responds depends on the policy wording.
Which clause is in your contract?
Interested party noted
The client, head contractor or financier asks to be named on your policy so they are told about changes such as cancellation. Wording varies, and in some contracts it means something different from being an extra insured.
Covers to raise: Public liability, Contract works
What it does not decide: Being noted does not by itself give that party cover under your policy or a right to claim. That depends on how the insurer words it.
Hold harmless
You agree to cover the other party's losses or claims connected to your work, sometimes including claims caused by their own actions. It is also called an indemnity clause.
Covers to raise: Public liability, Professional indemnity
What it does not decide: It does not decide whether your insurer will pay liability you took on only by contract. Many policies limit or exclude contractually assumed liability, so the wording matters.
Own tools and plant
The contract says you bring and look after your own tools, equipment or machinery, so damage or theft of them sits with you rather than the client.
Covers to raise: Tools and equipment, Business vehicles
What it does not decide: It does not decide whether those items are insured, on site or in a vehicle, or hired in. Contract works and public liability policies usually do not pick up your own tools.
General information, not legal advice. The full clause and the policy wording decide how it applies.
Check your certificate of currency against the contract
Check the insured name, limit and dates match the contract. The policy wording, not the certificate, decides what is covered. How a certificate of currency works
What each cover may pay, and what it usually does not
Public liability
- May respond to
- Injury to guests and damage to a venue or other people's property, single-event or annual.
- Common trigger
- A trip, a collapse or a peg through a pipe.
- Usually not covered
- Your own gear, cancellation costs and fines.
Statutory liability
- May respond to
- Defence costs if a regulator investigates, depending on the wording.
- Common trigger
- A serious incident at an event.
- Usually not covered
- Health and safety fines, which can never be insured (Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, s 29).
Professional indemnity
- May respond to
- A client saying work you delivered, or failed to deliver, cost them.
- Common trigger
- Lost files, a missed shot or a failed booking.
- Usually not covered
- Injury to guests, which sits under public liability.
Tools and equipment
- May respond to
- Marquees, sound gear, cameras and stock, depending on the wording.
- Common trigger
- Theft, wind damage or a drop.
- Usually not covered
- Wear and tear.
Business vehicles
- May respond to
- The van or trailer that carries the gear.
- Common trigger
- A crash or theft on the way to a venue.
- Usually not covered
- Use that was not declared.
If something goes wrong
A gazebo blows into the next stall
Wind lifts an unweighted gazebo into a parked car and a neighbouring stall.
May respond: Public liability
Have ready
- Photos of the damage
- Stall layout and weights used
- Market organiser's terms
- Your certificate
Guest trips on a cable
A guest trips over a sound cable at a fair and breaks a phone. ACC deals with the injury, so the claim is about the phone and any legal costs.
May respond: Public liability
Have ready
- Site plan
- Photos of cable routes
- Names of witnesses
- The venue agreement
Wedding photos are lost
A card fails and a couple says the missing images cost them.
May respond: Professional indemnity
Have ready
- The signed booking terms
- Backup procedure
- Messages with the couple
Pegs hit buried irrigation
Marquee pegs damage irrigation in a hired park.
May respond: Public liability
Have ready
- Council hire agreement
- Photos
- Repair quote
Typical examples, not real claims. ACC deals with most injuries, so an injury claim is mostly about property and legal costs. Whether a claim is paid depends on the policy wording and the facts.
Who this page is for
Organisers run the festival, school fair, corporate function or night market. They carry the broadest exposure because the public is on a site they set up.
Stallholders and vendors trade at someone else's event. The organiser usually sets the insurance rule, and food, bouncy castles or equipment demonstrations draw more questions than a table of candles.
Event photographers and videographers work at events for fees. Their risks are injury or damage on site, and failing to deliver the images.
What event public liability pays for
It responds when the event, or your part of it, is legally blamed for harm to someone outside your business:
- A guest trips over a cable run across a walkway.
- A gazebo leg damages a buried irrigation line on a hired park.
- A stall display falls onto a parked car.
- A vendor's hot-water urn spills and ruins the venue's flooring.
The insurer pays defence costs and compensation you are found liable for, up to the limit. Because of section 317 of the Accident Compensation Act 2001, most claims for compensatory damages for personal injury cannot be brought in court, so the claims that follow are mostly property damage and legal costs. Our public liability guide explains this in full.
What venues and organisers ask for
Each venue, council or market sets its own limit and who must be named. Our public liability page lists $1m as a common ask of market stalls and $5m as a common ask of event organisers. These are typical contract requests, not legal minimums.
Before you pay for anything, collect:
- The insurance clause in the hire agreement, stall application or permit.
- The limit, and whether it is per event or per year.
- Whether the venue or council must be named as an interested party.
- The date the certificate is due. Many organisers want it before confirming the booking.
The insurer or broker then issues a certificate of currency: proof the policy is in force, with its limit and dates. Send the clause to the adviser early, because timing depends on underwriting.
Single event or annual cover?
Some insurers offer short-term policies for one event, and many offer annual public liability. Whether a one-off policy is available depends on the event and the insurer, so ask rather than assume.
| Your situation | Worth asking about |
|---|---|
| One fundraiser or festival | A policy for that event only, covering setup, event day and pack-down |
| A stall at a few markets a season | Annual cover, or a policy naming the markets |
| A regular weekend market trader | Annual public liability, plus stock and equipment cover |
| A photographer shooting all year | Annual public liability and professional indemnity |
| An organiser running several events | Annual cover listing event types, with the largest crowd disclosed |
Tell the insurer the dates, venue, expected attendance, and whether there is alcohol, rides, fireworks, amplified music, temporary structures or hired contractors. Leaving something out can put a claim at risk.
What event cover usually leaves out
- Cancellation. Public liability does not repay deposits or ticket sales when an event is called off. That is a separate event cancellation cover with its own exclusions.
- Your equipment and stock. See tool and equipment insurance.
- Vehicles. A van or trailer sits under business vehicle insurance.
- Professional errors. Wrong advice or work you fail to deliver is a professional indemnity matter.
- Contractors without cover. Ask each hire company or caterer for their own certificate.
- Specified activities. Rides, fireworks, alcohol and large crowds may be excluded unless declared and accepted.
- Fines. Health and safety fines cannot be insured (s 29 of the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015).
The organiser's safety duty
Most organisers are a person conducting a business or undertaking (PCBU) under the Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, whether or not they trade for profit. A volunteer association that employs no one is not a PCBU (section 17). Section 36(2) requires a PCBU to ensure, so far as is reasonably practicable, that other people's health and safety is not put at risk by its work. If you are unsure which you are, check with WorkSafe or a lawyer.
Insurance does not replace a safety plan. Statutory liability may respond to defence costs when a regulator investigates, but not to the fine. A written site plan, first aid and a traffic and crowd plan are what both an insurer and a regulator will want to see.
Market stallholders
The market organiser's insurance usually does not cover you. It responds to their liability as organiser, not your own negligence. Raise with an adviser:
- Food and hot drinks. Check that products liability is on the policy, not just premises liability. Food poisoning is the exception to the ACC rule: a customer made ill by bacteria in your food may be able to sue (Accident Compensation Act 2001, s 25(1)(ba)).
- Wind. Gazebos and signage blow over onto neighbouring stalls and cars.
- Stock and takings. Liability does not cover theft of stock from a vehicle or stand.
- Certificates. Some markets want every trader to hold one. Keep a copy on your phone.
Event photographers
No licensing body tells photographers what to hold. In practice the venue, planner or corporate client does.
- Public liability covers harm you cause on site, such as a tripod toppling into a guest.
- Professional indemnity may respond to a claim that your work cost a client money, such as lost files. Many wordings exclude late delivery and promises made only in the contract, so read professional indemnity insurance before you sign.
- Equipment cover matters because cameras, lenses and lighting can be worth more than a day's fee.
- Drones. Anyone flying one is the pilot in command and carries a pilot's responsibilities under the Civil Aviation Act 2023, as the Civil Aviation Authority explains. Aircraft are often excluded from public liability, so ask.
If you shoot events as a side income, see gig economy insurance.
How we help
A Smiths adviser will phone you to talk through which covers to look at. Some business covers we refer to another licensed Financial Advice Provider, and we will tell you who, and how they are paid, before your details go to that firm. There is no instant online quote. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission or referral payment if you buy. Cover and price depend on insurer underwriting and the policy wording. Financial advice is provided by Craig Smith Business Services Limited, trading as Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver, a licensed Financial Advice Provider (FSP712931).
For the wider picture, see the business insurance hub. If the event depends on one organiser, the life-insurance side is on our business protection page.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need insurance to run an event in NZ?
No general law requires it. The venue, council or permit often does, so check your agreement.
Can I get public liability for just one event?
Some insurers offer short-term policies, but availability depends on the event and underwriting.
Does the market organiser's insurance cover my stall?
Usually not. It responds to the organiser's liability, not yours.
Does public liability cover a cancelled event?
No. Cancellation is a separate cover with its own exclusions.
Do event photographers need insurance?
No law demands it, but venues and corporate clients often do. Public liability, professional indemnity and equipment cover are the usual three.
References
- Health and Safety at Work Act 2015, ss 17, 29 and 36, legislation.govt.nz
- Accident Compensation Act 2001, ss 25 and 317, legislation.govt.nz
- Civil Aviation Authority, drones
- business.govt.nz, types of insurance
Related industries
Protect the people behind the business
Liability cover protects the business from claims. If you or a business partner could not work, or died, key person and shareholder cover can help keep the business, and your family, going.
- Key person cover, if the business relies on you
- Shareholder cover, so partners can buy each other out
- Income protection for owners and the self-employed
Check the booking clause first
Paste the insurance clause from your venue hire, stall application or permit and tell us the event date and expected crowd. A licensed Smiths adviser phones you. If we refer you to another licensed firm, we tell you who first. Smiths Insurance & KiwiSaver may receive a commission or referral payment if you buy.
A licensed Smiths adviser phones you. If we refer you to another licensed firm we tell you who first and how they are paid.
Read the full insurance guides
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