Band public liability insurance?

siraxeman

Vibetronic said:

if you're doing functions at hotels etc regularly, it would definitely be worth doing what Danny said and get cover for the year. When I was in a covers/function band we just got PLI cover for the day, which was £66 plus a £10 fee. We only got asked for it about 3 times over quite a long stretch so didn't bother getting yearly cover, and then we broke up anyway. The last couple of times I had to check though, and would've been caught out if I hadn't.

re MU PLI cover - I asked them about this and still have the reply if it's any use: The PLI benefit is for individual members only and doesn’t cover bands I’m afraid.  If you needed full cover then all members of the band would need to be members of the MU.  alternatively, you could contact the brokers for our scheme.

£66 + £10 PLI...for one day ? Now that does sound like a huge rip off! I've only had a quick look around online so far and its not a lot more for a year!

57Deluxe

Do everything with acoustic and stand outside and sing through open windows... Much simpler.... evryone be too pissed to notice and still ask for the pissing Birdie Song anyway...

Sarge

Sorry I've not the time to read the replies here (at work) but join the Musicians Union, you'll get excellent insurance cover plus loads of other benefits available cheaper than going 3rd party.

Good luck!

Chalky

PAT Testing is a 'point in time' test like an MOT. So if a piece of equipment fails say 6 months later, the PAT test is irrelevent. Can't see how a court case for damages would hinge on a PAT test. Anyone have experience or just another urban myth?

Phil_aka_Pip

Chalky said:

PAT Testing is a 'point in time' test like an MOT. So if a piece of equipment fails say 6 months later, the PAT test is irrelevent. Can't see how a court case for damages would hinge on a PAT test. Anyone have experience or just another urban myth?

Precisely. Like I said, if you're a self-respecting musician you'll maintain the kit you use. Otherwise it's like something I read in MotorCycle News many years ago: Kid with Honda 250 gets stopped by a copper who castigates him because his chain is slack. Kid says "It can't be, it's 2000 miles till my next service".

siraxeman

Sarge said:

Sorry I've not the time to read the replies here (at work) but join the Musicians Union, you'll get excellent insurance cover plus loads of other benefits available cheaper than going 3rd party.

Good luck!

will me as a person joining the MU actually cover my whole band or does that mean they all have to join as well ?

Phil_aka_Pip

siraxeman said:

Sarge said:

Sorry I've not the time to read the replies here (at work) but join the Musicians Union, you'll get excellent insurance cover plus loads of other benefits available cheaper than going 3rd party.

Good luck!

will me as a person joining the MU actually cover my whole band or does that mean they all have to join as well ?

Your PLI cover is personal, not for the band. I guess if half the band had PLI and the other half didn't when there was a claim, the half that had cover would get their share paid by the PLI, them that didn't would end up losing thier houses, and if they had nothing to lose, the court would then try to treat the band as a Partnership, and unless you had a proper Partnership Agreement which had schedules of what was band property and what wasn't, each band member would lose their instruments and amplification for being jointly and severally liable.

Chalky

Any evidence that any non-famous band has ever had to claim on public liability insurance? I know businesses that have but the basis for the claim has always been that the incident happened on the business premises - something a band would not normally own.

crunchman

Chalky said:

Any evidence that any non-famous band has ever had to claim on public liability insurance? I know businesses that have but the basis for the claim has always been that the incident happened on the business premises - something a band would not normally own.

It's not about whether or not you need to claim.  It's a scam by the insurance industry.  The venue will have a clause in their insurance that any acts have to have their own PLI.  Therefore the industry knows that they will get to sell more insurance as acts are forced to buy it if they want to perform.

SNAKEBITE

At this point the drummers are all laughing like drains.

sticker

All it takes is 1 pissed punter to bump into a PA speaker to make it worthwhile having .

As has been said before - if PLI has been requested it forms part of your contract with the venue - either get PLI or turn the gig down .

SNAKEBITE said:

At this point the drummers are all laughing like drains.

PLI will cover pissed punters falling over drum kits too ....

siraxeman

crunchman;649982" said:

Chalky said:

Any evidence that any non-famous band has ever had to claim on public liability insurance? I know businesses that have but the basis for the claim has always been that the incident happened on the business premises - something a band would not normally own.





It's not about whether or not you need to claim.  It's a scam by the insurance industry.  The venue will have a clause in their insurance that any acts have to have their own PLI.  Therefore the industry knows that they will get to sell more insurance as acts are forced to buy it if they want to perform.

I think you just hit the nail on the head there mister.

Danny1969

PLI and PAT are just 2 pieces of bullshit you accept you have to have if you want to play the game. Your average wedding pays around £1200 to a decent 4 piece band, so you can pay for both out of one gig and still have a good earn each. As someone who repairs electronic equipment professionally I know PAT is bollocks and 9 times out of 10 the person asking for it doesn't even know what it is but that's the game 

Phil_aka_Pip

http://www.pat-testing-expert.com/training/faq.php

siraxeman

If we get into we get into weddings at that kind of money then great...its a small price to pay. However as stated in the OP this is my sisters wedding and the guys in the band are doing it for pub gig money ie £50 each...and I'm taking nothing. This gig really is a pain in the ass as the expense it incurs makes it not worth while...but its family.

siraxeman

Guys...what items of gear would a band typically need to be PAT tested ? Will 20 items be enough to get us covered? I'm assuming my pedalboard and dozen pedals on it wont all need PAT testing maybe at most just the lead/power supply from the mains to it should be enough. Speaker cabs/cables ? etc etc ???

not_the_dj

Anything with a plug on it that'll be plugged into the venues mains supply.

siraxeman

If that's all then that's good...just mains powered appliances. Easy peasy then 20 should be more than ample.

Pete24v

Shop around for PAT test prices. I had a guy come out to my house where all the band gear lives, £1 per item, and we had 64 items according to the certificate.

Vibetronic

siraxeman said:

Vibetronic said:

if you're doing functions at hotels etc regularly, it would definitely be worth doing what Danny said and get cover for the year. When I was in a covers/function band we just got PLI cover for the day, which was £66 plus a £10 fee. We only got asked for it about 3 times over quite a long stretch so didn't bother getting yearly cover, and then we broke up anyway. The last couple of times I had to check though, and would've been caught out if I hadn't.

re MU PLI cover - I asked them about this and still have the reply if it's any use: The PLI benefit is for individual members only and doesn’t cover bands I’m afraid.  If you needed full cover then all members of the band would need to be members of the MU.  alternatively, you could contact the brokers for our scheme.

£66 + £10 PLI...for one day ? Now that does sound like a huge rip off! I've only had a quick look around online so far and its not a lot more for a year!

yeah, it is a lot. The ones where we needed it were really spread out, but looking back I'd have gone for a year. I found it really hard finding somewhere which did it for one-off gigs as well.