As pricing for smaller-scale special events holds steady and large-scale events get even larger, the special events insurance market presents serious opportunities for independent agencies.

“The nice part about special events is they continue to grow,” says Bob Battaglia, assistant vice president of commercial lines at Philadelphia Insurance Companies, citing new out-of-the-box sports like pickleball and underwater hockey as examples. “As the economy continues to get better, there’s more funding and more money to do fun things for the community or more fundraising.”

But it’s not an easy niche to crack. Battaglia says most of Philadelphia’s business comes from agents cross-selling current clients who happen to get involved with a special event. How can you remove the element of chance from placing special events business?

You might be surprised which of your commercial clients require special events coverage. Philadelphia, for example, insures a lot of nonprofits—many of which require a separate special events policy for something like a large fundraiser, Battaglia points out. “It may be better to cover the event with a separate special event policy rather than subject their standard insurance program to potential loss,” he explains.

Another cross-selling strategy? “Work with some entities holding 5K races and other running events,” Battaglia suggests. “You may be able to generate critical mass and pick up a number of different accounts through those contacts.”

From event planners to food vendors to freelance magicians, many events involve a variety of different parties with varying insurance needs. “It’s really an opportunity for the agent to uncover other clients in the process,” says Mark Beck, senior vice president of mass merchandising at K&K Insurance Group, Inc. “Just about anybody who’s doing something or who’s a contractor and helping out with the event really should have their own coverage.”

As far as submission activity, detail is the word of the day. “Many of the events just aren’t that sophisticated,” Battaglia says. “You probably only need about four or five pieces of information: What’s taking place, where is it taking place, when is it taking place and how many people are involved? If you have those basic pieces, most accounts will come through quickly.”

K&K underwriters like to see specific phraseology in the general contract that an event promoter might extend to subcontractors, vendors, concessioners, carnival ride operators or any other party that might be involved with the main event other auxiliary events.

“The contracts can get tricky, and if you’ve got an experienced vendor or concessioner, they know what they want to stay away from,” explains Ron Norton, senior vice president of leisure at K&K Insurance Group, Inc. For example, a car dealer might want to lend a few cars to an event, but doesn’t pursue a written contract. What happens if property damage occurs?

“We know what the event promoter should be lining up as far as expectations of those third parties,” Norton says. “You want to make sure the policy is designed in such a way that everybody has a solid understanding of where the coverage is going to be found.”

Jacquelyn Connelly is IA senior editor.