Is DJ PLI for you?
DJ PLI – Why Bother?
Have you been asked to provide a PLI Certificate by a venue? Or do you have it because you can see the importance of being covered?
A recent newspaper article claims that the number of
personal injury claims in the UK has now surpassed those made in the USA.
One of the key reasons for this is that the law in the UK allows
legal teams to claim all their costs from the losing party. These can be
substantial which is the incentive for legal companies to take on even the
smallest of injury claims.
This can be illustrated with an actual 'real
life' example:
A member of the public cracks two ribs in a fall. He
goes to a 'no win, no fee' company who take on the case and write to the
business owner. They agree an out of court settlement for £2,000 which is
paid directly to the claimant.
The claims company then sent the
business owner an invoice for £20,000 to cover the work they had done on
their client's behalf. This was disputed in court. The business owner lost
the appeal and now has a legal bill of over £30,000 to pay (the original
invoice plus the extra costs of the appeal).
In the example above,
the business owner stands to lose both her business and her home.
If
you believe 'it will never happen to me as a mobile DJ', then it may be time
for a rethink. Over the last few years in the UK there have been 21
instances where a guest at a function has been injured or where the venue sustained
damage caused by the DJ's equipment and a claim has been made against the DJ.
Fortunately they all had AMPdj membership at the time!
Whilst we cannot divulge
specific details of the individual cases, injury claims have been made as a
result of guests tripping over mobile DJ equipment and DJ equipment falling onto
guests
(including during de-rigging). Other instances include damage to a newly
laid wooden floor, a lift during transportation of equipment (two cases) and
a plate glass door.
So if you are already covered, great, it's one
less thing to worry about. If you don't have PLI, well at least you now know
what could happen. After all, it's better to be fully informed and decide
not to bother, rather than be completely unaware of what may result in the
event of a claim and receive a nasty shock if it does.
If you don't
currently have Public Liability Insurance then take a look at AMPdj. All
members are covered with £10million PLI and this includes £250,000 claimant
legal costs.
Peace of mind can be cheaper than you think!