On 04 December 2013 the devastating news broke that Nelson Mandela, the former president and first black leader of South Africa has died at age 95. The Nobel Peace Prize Winner and arguably the world’s most famous political prisoner had been in hospital since 2008 with a recurring lung condition.
In 1964 the revolutionary politician was sentenced to life imprisonment for sabotage and conspiracy to overthrow the government. In 1980 the Johannesburg Post led a campaign to grant Mandela his freedom. 1990 saw the eventual release of Nelson Mandela after he’d served 27 years in prison.
Four years later Mandela won the national elections and in doing so became the first black leader of South Africa. His party, The Africa National Congress are still in power today with their second president since Mandela’s retirement.
The people of South Africa looked to Mandela for Leadership and hope. The country is now in national mourning for a period of ten days to honour the revolutionary. Shops will be shut, transportation cancelled, banks closed and events cancelled. The whole country will come to a stand still costing businesses thousands.
Some event organisers will have put years into organising events but if their event falls within the period of mourning it must be cancelled. This can be devastating for some companies as many events are difficult and expensive to reschedule. It is in situations like this that Cancellation Insurance really does pay for itself.
WorldWide Special Risks identify the issues that affect Event organisers in the UK and overseas and in so doing are able to tailor fit a policy to each individual client’s needs.
A lot of event organisers are very careful when it comes to protecting their events but overlook the very serious matter of National Mourning Insurance. When buying insurance to cover national mourning you must be very careful, as a lot of policies will only cover those up to 65 years of age, but ours can extend further upon request. Worldwide Special risks can give cover for anyone, however the premium will increase with the age and health concerns.
Looking a little closer to home, Prince Phillip has recently been in hospital and has missed several royal engagements including Royal Ascot where the Queen’s horse won the gold cup. Had the queen missed this event due to her own or Phillips poor health there could have been significant repercussions for the event organisers. Fortunately these risks can all be insured with a suitable event insurance policy.