Weather-Related Cancellations: Does Your Event Insurance Protect You?

Storms, hurricanes, and other weather events can force you to cancel or postpone an event. You would lose all nonrefundable, prepaid fees. Vendor contracts might penalize you, and you might need to pay extra to relocate or postpone your event.

To mitigate financial loss, event cancellation can be invaluable. In this guide, we will go over weather-related cancellations and what event organizers need to know.

Understanding Event Insurance

Event insurance protects event organizers and planners from lawsuits, event cancellations, and other event risks. Let’s go over the common types of event insurance.

General Liability Insurance

General liability insurance covers third party bodily injuries and property damage. Guests who get injured or ill at your event might sue you for damages, which could cost you millions of dollars.

It is also easy to damage the venue and other property when organizing an event. General liability also protects you from property damage lawsuits.

Cancellation/Interruption Coverage

Event cancellation insurance covers financial losses if you are forced to cancel or postpone your event for an eligible reason. Common cancellation reasons include:

• Poor weather
• Injury or illness of key persons
• Airline strikes

Liquor Liability Coverage

If your event sells or distributes alcohol, liquor liability insurance is essential. Most venues and local laws have liquor liability insurance requirements. Host liability protects the host from liquor-related lawsuits.

Why event insurance is important for organizers

Organizers face many risks when hosting an event. Weddings can be cancelled because of bad weather. Corporate events can overserve guests alcohol and lead to accidents. At sports events, spectators can get injured during the competition.

Preventing financial loss is the main goal of event cancellation insurance. If you cancel your event, you could lose all your prepaid, nonrefundable expenses. You might need to pay penalties in vendor and performer contracts.

Weather-Related Cancellations: A Common Concern

Types of Weather Events That Affect Events

Hurricanes: If you’re hosting an event in a hurricane, typhoon, or monsoon region, the storms and winds can force you to cancel the event.

Floods: Flood damage can greatly damage venues and property, shutting them down for your event.

Snowstorms: Snowstorms, avalanches, and hail are all able to stop you from hosting an event.

Extreme heat: Dry areas can be extremely hot in the day. Heat sickness becomes worse if you are hosting an outdoor event, such as a music festival, and water is scarce.

Wildfires: Even a small match can set a dry area ablaze for weeks on end. Events that get cancelled because of wildfire may not be able to recover if the venue gets annihilated by the flames.

Frequency of Weather Disruptions in Recent Years

Weather has been increasingly affecting outdoor events. It has been called “billion dollar weather” with climate disasters hurting and killing people across the country.

If you’re hosting a destination wedding or other event abroad, weather is a problem in other regions too. It is necessary to have event insurance that covers international events in that case.

Examples of Notable Weather-Related Cancellations

In 2012, The New York Times reported that the New York Marathon was called off in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. This was a monumental cancellation because the marathon had been held every year since 1970.

In 2025, the anticipated Bonnaroo music festival was cancelled because of heavy rainfall. It was too dangerous to continue the event, but that resulted in tons of disappointed fans who had travel plans.

Does Event Insurance Cover Weather-Related Cancellations?

Event Cancellation Coverage

Does event insurance include weather disruptions? Most of the time, yes, adverse weather conditions are covered. Storms, wildfires, heavy rain, and other weather events that cause cancellations will let you file event cancellation insurance claims. However, the weather needs to meet the conditions of a valid event disruption.

The weather event needs to make it unsafe or impossible for the event to continue. For example, severe extreme conditions that cause broad road closures are easily cancellation-level weather crises.

On the other hand, if there is only moderate wind or light rain, these typically do not qualify for event cancellation insurance claims. Even if these conditions make it harder to throw a ball straight, the event usually still has to continue.

Force Majeure Clauses

Acts of God are overwhelming, unpreventable natural events outside of human control. It essentially is a catch-all term for incidents not explicitly stated in the policy. Force majeure clauses are meant to protect the event host from contractual penalties and to dissuade other parties from suing you. However, it does not give you financial compensation like event insurance does if you need to cancel the event due to an Act of God.

Policy Exclusions and Limitations

Make sure you read the policy carefully. Sometimes, weather events might not be covered. The most common scenario where weather is NOT covered is if the event is delayed for a few hours, or if weather has been long anticipated. Common event cancellation insurance exclusions are:

Voluntary cancellations: When you cancel preemptively even when the weather isn’t severe.

Ongoing weather issues: High humidity and light seasonal rain may not be covered.

Foreseen events: Weather, such as hurricanes, that is predicted before you buy cancellation insurance will not be covered.

One reason why it is a good idea to buy event insurance early is because it can provide better weather cancellation coverage.

Case Study

A local running competition is entirely outdoors. It’s a nice, cozy summer with pleasant weather. Since the event is new and small, the organizer decides it isn’t worth buying an entire event cancellation policy.

In the morning, there is an unexpected storm. The lightning and flooding risks make it too dangerous for the run to begin. Without event cancellation insurance, the event organizer is shocked by how much money they lose. $50,000 in nonrefundable venue and vendor deposits are wasted. The local organizer tries to absorb the losses but becomes unable to host another event next year.

If the organizer had purchased event cancellation insurance, they would have been able to file a claim for most of the losses, saving up to $50,000. When thinking about their quoted $300 event cancellation insurance policy premium, the event organizer regrets not paying it.

Types of Event Insurance Protection Specific to Weather

Insurance riders and optional add-ons can be purchased to customize your event cancellation coverage. These riders are good for bridging specific gaps in your coverage if you know that is a risk you should be concerned about.

Weather Insurance Riders

Some insurance companies will offer specialty coverage options for events specifically affected by weather. For example, you might get extra snowstorm coverage for skiing events or extra coverage for measurable weather events.

A weather insurance rider would likely use objective weather data as the coverage trigger. For example, if there are 2 inches of snow on the day of the event, you would automatically receive compensation.

Customizing Insurance Policies for Specific Weather Concerns

Event insurance companies offer optional add-ons and features that can help you tailor the policy based on your event needs. If you have any specific weather concerns, chat with your insurance agent to see what extra coverage you could get.

How to Protect Your Event from Weather Risks

Steps to Take Before the Event

Review insurance policies carefully when insuring your event. Beware fine print and exclusions, which are common for insurance policies.

In addition, organizers should consider weather-based contingency plans. For example, if your outdoors event encounters severe weather, are there any indoor venues you can relocate to? Is there a backup date planned in advance? Having a backup plan can save costs and headaches. Devising it before the event ensures that in the chaos of a weather disaster, you can still give out instructions and your staff will know what to do.

Weather forecasts should be considered when planning events, but many events are planned well in advance and weather forecasts aren’t perfect. Still, it is a good idea to look at forecasts so you get a better idea of expected weather. Hurricane formation are often visible a week in advance.

Communicating with Vendors and Attendees

If you need to cancel or postpone the event, it is important to be transparent about the reason and handle the rescheduling effectively. Vendors, attendees, and performers spend a significant amount of money and time to attend events. Disappointment and anger are inevitable. But the difference between a well handled cancellation and a poorly handled one is immense. If your team is vague or rude about the cancellation, it can lose you fans and supporters. Sponsors and advertisers may refuse to sponsor you in the future.

The Cost of Weather-Related Insurance Add-Ons

Evaluating the Cost of Additional Weather Insurance

Adverse weather insurance is an extra layer of event insurance that specifically covers weather-related cancellations. It can cover non-refundable expenses for vendors, relocation costs, lost venue from parking and concessions, and more.

Pros and cons of adding weather-related riders to policies

Pros: The extra coverage could come in handy if a weather-related disruption takes place.

Cons: It may not be worth paying for an extra weather event insurance rider. It can raise your premium significantly, particularly if you are hosting a multi-day or outdoor event.

Is it Worth It for Your Event

Is additional weather insurance for events worth it for your event? It depends mainly on your risk tolerance and event location. You should also calculate the potential financial loss versus cost of insurance

Event insurance costs are straightforward. Most event insurance policies only cover 30 days or fewer, and you pay an upfront premium. You can get free event cancellation insurance quotes online with the best event insurance companies.

The amount you can lose depends on factors such as:

• Venue deposits
• Prepaid vendor and supplier fees
• Performer or speaker contracts
• Licenses and permits

Legal Aspects of Weather-Related Cancellations

Legal Requirements for Event Organizers

Most event organizers have some sort of force majeure clause if they sell tickets. This means that if there is a weather cancellation or other problem, they will not be responsible for the losses of attendees.

However, there are laws put in place to protect consumers when events are canceled due to weather. Even if you have a clause rejecting financial compensation, you may still need to refund customers in some situations, such as if the cancellation is due to the organizer mismanagement or mistakes.

Contractual Considerations with Vendors

Vendors invest time and resources into every event. You may want to include in vendor contracts clauses that safeguard against weather-related losses.

Conclusion

Choosing the right event cancellation insurance ensures you have a financial cushion in case bad weather forces you to cancel or postpone your event. Make sure that your chosen event insurance policy covers relevant weather risks.

Assess your event risks, read weather forecasts, and secure the best event insurance today.