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notsogravybaby

Junior Member
What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? California

I recently held a 5-day event that required proof of insurance to the venue before the start of the event (at least that is what the contract required). I found an insurance company to work with and explained the deadlines and that the venue required a $10m policy. I made this very clear to the insurance company. First, they came to me and said they were able to get a policy for $5m but the $10m will be difficult. We do have emails back and forth that I intended to get insurance through them, and I asked if we could just get the $5m already because it started to take too long and I needed to show the venue *something* and they said no, that they already started working on the $10m policy and had to wait. I said, ok.

A few days before the event, I signed a TRIA document to add a clause to be covered for terrorism. That was the only thing I actually signed during this whole process. They never asked for any payment and I never sent them any money. But their are emails from both sides showing "good faith" of purchasing/issuing this insurance. The day before the event, I let them know that we need proof of insurance ASAP. They wrote back saying the binders were "forthcoming" but nothing ever came.

So, the event starts and the venue luckily NEVER actually asked for proof of insurance. The insurance company was silent during that entire time, as well. The event ended with no injuries, nothing that I feel could come back later, etc. I had a *phew* moment, thinking I wasn't actually insured but no one got hurt. Then, one week later, the insurance company sends me the bill plus the binders. The binders have the correct dates of the event (but the execution date is a few days after the end of the event). So from the day before the event until a week after the event, they had no communication with me and ignored my emails and calls.

I thought it was very strange for them to wait until after the event to issue the insurance or issue the insurance without getting any sort of payment from me first. It seems that if something did go wrong, it could be held against me as if I acquired insurance after the fact. I wasn't asking for "after the event" insurance. I know it's a bit immoral for me to not pay, but at the same time, I feel like the insurance company put me at risk for not keeping to the dates I required and/or not keeping me informed. Had the venue asked for proof of insurance, and I did not show it, they could have canceled the entire event. I am not sure if showing them emails to an insurance company would have been sufficient.

Am I required to pay the entire bill? Can I offer to pay the service fees/paperwork fees and not the actual insurance? I understand that I may be a jerk about this - trying not to pay - but I thought I would get some advice. If I need to just shut up and pay, I will.

Thanks!
 
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Zigner

Senior Member, Non-Attorney
I'm not sure that it's even immoral to not pay their bill. They didn't provide insurance to you until AFTER the event (regardless of their attempt to backdate it). You can bet that if something HAD happened, you would never have seen the binders at all.
 

LdiJ

Senior Member
I'm not sure that it's even immoral to not pay their bill. They didn't provide insurance to you until AFTER the event (regardless of their attempt to backdate it). You can bet that if something HAD happened, you would never have seen the binders at all.
I agree. I certainly would not pay for it without a letter guaranteeing that anything that pops up down the road related to the event will be covered.
 

HRZ

Senior Member
Merely as a layman, I see it as Zinger sees it...there was no contract in place for the times in question ... let some administrator in the insurance firm explain it to his or her firms legal staff, resignation letter attached .
 

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