Wedding insurance:what it usually covers and what to read

Wedding insurance is the contract people read least and miss most when something goes wrong. It is signed in advance, with the mind on other things, and hardly anyone opens it again until the day it is truly needed.

This text explains, in general terms, what wedding insurance is, what it usually covers and what to look at in the terms. It recommends no insurer or product and it is not advice: the exact wording of each policy is something for you to settle with whoever sells it.

What wedding insurance really is

Spain’s Insurance Contract Act defines an insurance contract as one in which the insurer undertakes, in return for a premium, to compensate the damage caused if the insured event happens, always within the limits agreed. Three words carry everything: the premium is what you pay; the risk is the specific event the policy says it covers; the limits are how far the help goes. Outside the risk described there is no payout.

“Wedding insurance” is not a contract with fixed content, as a compulsory insurance would be. It is the name each insurer gives to a set of guarantees designed for that day, and each one builds its own. Two policies with the same name can protect against very different things: what counts is what the document says, not the title of the offer.

What it usually covers

Depending on the policy, wedding insurance may bring together several guarantees, and they do not always come together. It helps to separate them so you know which one you are looking for:

• Cancellation or change of date. It helps recover what you have already paid if the wedding cannot take place on the planned date, but only for the causes the policy accepts.
• Liability. It comes into play if someone is hurt during the celebration and claims against you. The law describes it as the insurer’s obligation to cover the risk that you must compensate a third party for damage caused, within the limits of the contract.
• Damage to property. What happens to things: the space or furniture you hire, or your own, such as the outfits, the rings or the gifts.
• Other guarantees some policies add. This is the part that varies most from one insurer to another.

The useful question is not “what does it include?” but “in which specific cases will it pay, and up to how much?”

The terms: causes, exclusions and limits

This is where the real contract lies. Three things deserve a slow read:

The causes. This is the list of events you can claim for. Ask whether the list is closed or open, whose illness or mishap has to count (yours, a relative’s, a witness’s), and whether bad weather appears as a cause and, if so, what you must prove.

The exclusions. This is what is expressly left out. Read it all: it is where the policy makes clear what is not protected even if the name of the product suggests otherwise.

The limits. The maximum each guarantee pays and in total, whether it pays everything or only part, and whether there is an excess, meaning a share of the damage that always falls to you.

The law helps in one respect: clauses that limit the insured person’s rights must be highlighted and specifically accepted in writing. If, reviewing the document, you find a highlighted section you are asked to sign separately, that is the one. Read it twice and ask about whatever you do not understand before accepting.

And one point of order: insurance in case of rain does not replace a well-thought-out plan B. The first step is to decide in writing what happens with bad weather, as the plan B for a wedding explains. The insurance, if there is one, comes afterwards.

Deadlines: from when it applies and when to report

In insurance, time counts twice: when it starts to apply and when you must report.

From when it applies. The law says the contract is void if, when it is signed, the insured event had already happened. A policy does not protect against what has already occurred, or a problem that already exists when you take it out. Also ask whether there is a waiting period before it takes effect: taking it out late can leave it useless just when it would be needed.

When to report. If something happens, the law requires you to tell the insurer within a maximum of seven days from when you learn of it, unless the policy allows more. You must also give information about what happened and use the means at your disposal to reduce the consequences. In practice: report at once and in writing, and keep emails, receipts and photographs from the first day.

What you have to declare

Before you sign, the insurer may give you a questionnaire. The law requires you to declare, in line with that questionnaire, the circumstances you know of that could affect the assessment of the risk. Answer accurately: an inaccurate answer can reduce the payout and, in cases of bad faith or serious negligence, leave the insurer free of any obligation to pay.

The same applies while the policy runs: if the declared circumstances change and that increases the risk, you must say so as soon as possible. If something important changes, such as the place, the date or the type of celebration, ask the insurer whether you must tell it, and keep the answer in writing.

What to ask the insurer or the broker

You can speak to the insurer itself or to an intermediary, often called a broker. Spain’s Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds lets you consult its public registers, both of insurers and of distributors, in case you want to check that whoever is advising you is registered.

Always ask for the full terms before paying, not just the sales summary, and put your questions in writing so that you keep the answers:

• Which specific causes does the policy accept, and which does it exclude?
• From when does it apply, and until when?
• What has to be proved, and with which documents?
• What is the maximum it pays, and what share is left to you?
• How long do you have to report if something happens, and to whom?
• What happens if the date or the place changes?
• Is the payout made to you or to each supplier?

If you disagree with the insurer’s answer, the route is written: first, a complaint to the insurer’s own complaints service or its ombudsman, with proof that it was submitted; and, if it is not resolved, the Complaints Service of the Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds, which requires that complaint to have been made first.

What it does not do: replace supplier contracts

Each supplier has its own terms: what is refunded if you cancel, what happens if the date changes, when each part is paid. The insurance neither knows them nor changes them. At best, it repairs part of the loss afterwards, always within its causes and its limits.

That is why it pays to read each contract as if the insurance did not exist. Ask, and put in writing, what happens if the date changes, what is refunded and who tells whom. With the photo and film team, that conversation is the same as the one about timing: what is delivered, when, and what happens if something fails, already explained in when you will receive your wedding images. Here the only point is that those terms appear in the contract.

The calmest order: suppliers with clear terms, a written plan B for what can be foreseen and, last, the insurance as a safety net for what cannot.

If you are sorting out your wedding suppliers and would like to talk about the photo and film side, tell us your story.

Frequently asked questions

Do you have to take out wedding insurance?

That is your decision. It is best made with the policy in front of you, comparing it with what each supplier’s contract already says.

What is the first thing to read in the policy?

The accepted causes and the exclusions. Clauses that limit the insured person’s rights must be highlighted and accepted in writing, so those are the ones worth rereading.

How long do you have to tell the insurer about a problem?

Spanish law sets a maximum of seven days from when you learn of the event, unless the policy allows a longer period. The prudent course is to notify at once and in writing.

What if the insurer does not reply or you disagree?

First make a written complaint to the insurer’s own complaints service. If it is not resolved, you can turn to the Complaints Service of Spain’s Directorate-General for Insurance and Pension Funds.