Thursday 9 February 2012

Wedding insurance.. a do or a don't bother?

When I first started researching my wedding and heard the term ‘wedding insurance’ being banded around, I thought it was just another way for companies to make money out of already stressed Brides-to-be. But now, as a Bride-to-be myself, I’ve just bowed to the worry of ‘everything going wrong’ and have taken out wedding insurance. 

Mr M and I spoke about whether we needed it for quite a long time before finally deciding that for US it was probably a good idea. This decision was based upon two main reasons.
Firstly, the money we are spending on our wedding has and is being slaved away for – this isn’t money we just have to hand and can regain again easily; we’ve worked really hard for every penny, so the thought that an accident or mishap down the line could result in us loosing it all is terrifying.
Secondly, we are getting married in the dead of winter. Winter in the UK can go one of two ways – mild and just a little frosty, or freezing with a high chance of roads being closed due to snow. The first scenario is ideal (very romantic looking in the photos!).. the second (which could lead to guests, family and suppliers not being able to get there) would be devastating.
The way we looked at it was pay £80 and know that everything will be sorted if something does go wrong, or loose £10,000 and have nothing to fall back on. For US, the answer was simple.
But who to use?
There are a load of different companies out there which can provide you with insurance, who you choose depends on who offers what you require.
After a lot of research, we went with the insurance provided by Debenhams. I cannot recommend them yet (and hopefully won’t have to!), but they covered everything we wanted. They weren’t the cheapest, but for us, they felt like they gave the most comprehensive cover under £100. What was particularly important to us was that ALL guests were covered under the Public Liability aspect – most companies we researched only covered the Bride and Groom (which is no good when your guests are a clumsy, rowdy rugby playing bunch!).
Debenhams aren’t the only company around though, we also looked at:
E&L
John Lewis
Ecclesiastical
Confetti
Hiscox
Direct Line (insurance is added to your home insurance premium)
……
Deciding whether to take out wedding insurance is a very personal thing, and something that not all couples want to do. If nothing goes wrong you’ve effectively lost whatever you paid for your insurance, but on the other hand, you could loose your entire wedding fund.
Whatever you decide though, it is definitely worth thinking about!