City Rural take the heat!
Dateline: early hours of 11 March 2014
Location: Womadelaide event-sound stage in Botanic Park
Fire breaks out at the rear of one of the event stages. The owner of the sound and PA system equipment had packed up and stored his gear in the transport boxes at the rear of the stage, along with a grand piano.
The fire was spotted by a security guard who raised the alarm. Fire crews raced to the scene and the fire was promptly extinguished but not before there was $1 million dollars worth of fire and water damage to the equipment, piano and stage.
Just doing our job, City Rural had arranged the correct cover and our client, Womadelaide Foundation Inc., simply paid the excess and the insurers handled the claim
Womadelaide Foundation Inc. is a long-term client of City Rural. Over our more than 10-year relationship, we know their routine with the event and what items need cover. Early this year though, after 10 years of no claims, they questioned if they really needed the cover.
This is a very common question from our event clients – “Do we really need it? As professional risk managers, we explained the cover; outlined potential claims scenarios … and why adequate cover was a ‘must have’. Our advice was taken…fortunately.
As a result of the policy being correctly structured and placed with a reputable Australian insurer there has been no financial impact on our client. We look forward to working with them on Womadelaide Festival 2015.
As an interesting side issue (well, we think it is), because the event was in the Adelaide Botanic Park, any plant life that may be damaged also needs to be considered when arranging cover for these events. City Rural had it covered but thankfully, the 100-year-old tree near the stage was not affected.