Performers buy public liability because venues ask for it, and the cover applies to the act described on the schedule. A magician, a children's entertainer, a fire performer and an aerialist are four different risks that one word could cover.
Describe the act, not the job title
Insurers rate what actually happens: whether there is fire, aerial work, stilts, animals, knives, pyrotechnics, audience participation, or children in the room. Several of those are excluded from standard entertainer wordings and are written specifically. A performer who describes themselves as a variety act and performs fire has a policy written for the description rather than for the performance, which is the situation the exclusion exists for.
Audience participation and children
Bringing an audience member on stage transfers some control to somebody untrained, which is where a large share of the claims come from. Working with children, at parties, in schools or at family events, brings safeguarding checks and often an abuse allegation extension. Venues and schools ask for both the certificate and the checks, and a performer doing a lot of school work will be asked for them repeatedly.
Venues, festivals and the certificate in advance
Theatres, hotels, festivals, local authorities and marquee companies require a stated limit before a booking is confirmed, and larger events want it weeks ahead as part of accreditation. Some also require risk assessments for the act, particularly where fire, height or effects are involved. The certificate ends up being a sales document, because an act that cannot produce one loses bookings rather than arguments.
Equipment, props and working abroad
Costumes, props, instruments, rigging and sound equipment travel constantly and are the performer's working capital. Cover has to follow them with attention to unattended vehicle conditions, and specialist props are often worth specifying individually. Working abroad takes both liability and equipment cover outside a domestic territorial limit unless extended before the trip, which is a question to settle when the booking is accepted.
Questions people ask about performers public liability insurance
Does one entertainer policy cover any act?
No. Cover applies to the act described. Fire, aerial work, stilts, animals, knives and pyrotechnics are commonly excluded unless specifically written.
What do venues require?
A certificate at a stated limit before the booking is confirmed, often weeks ahead for festivals, and sometimes a risk assessment for the act.
Is audience participation covered?
Usually, but declare it. Bringing an untrained person into the act is where a large share of performer claims originate.