A Pro DJ Needs PL Public Liability Insurance

0:00 Of course, the insurance

Alright guys, as a mobile DJ, why get public liability insurance? Well, if you're over the age or you're at the age where you can drive, of course you have to pay for insurance. And you may have paid insurance for 10, 20 years and never had an accident and that's sort of dead money. I mean, why give an insurance company 200 or 300 pounds, dollars, euros every year only to find you get nothing back in return? Well, of course, the insurance... It's a guarantee that if there's a problem, it will be taken care of. And also in most countries, it is a legal requirement to have insurance, especially if you're driving. But DJing, you may have been a mobile DJ for 20 years and you've never even looked or bothered to have insurance. What's the point? No one's ever asked me for my insurance documents. I turn up to the local youth club every single week, give them a gig and they're happy and they just...

Bung me 50 quid in my back pocket. Well, imagine this. Let's say you want to take your show to the next level and become professional. So, you have a phone call from a client and they want to book you on X date to work in X venue. You have an agreement, you sign a contract. That contract is signed by both parties stipulating the time, the day, the place, the venue, what you're doing, what you're not doing, the kit you've got, etc., blah, blah, blah. You turn up to that venue. Now there is a lot more that I could go into, but I'm going to try and explain this in a simple manner. So you turn up to the venue, you set all your kit up, you're ready, you're good to go, everyone's happy because the DJ, the entertainment, the end of the night has turned up. And remember, a wedding is a very, very special day for the bride and the groom. You don't want to mess it up. No one wants to mess a wedding up.

1:55 You turn up, you've set up, everyone's happy because you've done your

So you turn up, you've set up, everyone's happy because you've done your sound check. Boom! Then the manager or the owner of the venue approach you. Can we see your insurance documents please? I haven't got any. Do you realise that they are in a position to say, there's the door, I'm sorry, out you go. Yeah but I've been booked here. That's irrelevant. It doesn't matter who you've been booked by. It doesn't matter how much you're getting paid, how long you've been a DJ for, how fantastic you are at mixing. It doesn't mean a shit. It means nothing. What is important is that you have insurance because the manager or the owner of that establishment is in their legal right to say sorry you are not allowed to play in this establishment unless you have

Proper legitimate insurance why let's imagine you haven't got insurance let's imagine there's a problem someone trips over something it could fall onto the hotel they don't want that they've got their own insurance they do not want someone turning up and having to deal with their own insurance no no it's your problem it's your issue you're the one who should have got insurance in the first place so think about it you will You have to leave the venue, which means not only have you not had a gig, that's the easy part. If it was just as easy as that, you could go home, make a cup of tea, everyone's happy. The way social media works now, your name would be all over social media. This guy's an idiot, didn't have insurance. But that's the least of your worries because now you're in a position where the bride and groom could sue you for not...

3:52 Another story, but don't worry about that

Doing the job. And you can't turn around and say, well I'm here, I could do the job anyway. No, you can't! Because you weren't allowed to do the job in that place because you didn't have bloody insurance, you muppet! So get insurance. You may never need it. You may never have to phone the company and go, very sorry but some idiot who was drunk fell over my cables. Another story, but don't worry about that. You just need to know, OK? So make sure you have some form. of public liability insurance for your show, for what you do. Now there is a company, I'm not going to talk about it because I don't want to start promoting or advertising but there's loads of places, there are companies on Facebook as well, just go and check it out. But there is one company, I have insurance through them and wherever I am, I don't have to take any documents with me, nothing. I do though I have a hard copy just in case.

But what is even better than that is if a manager, which has happened once and once is enough, has said we need to see your insurance. I've just gone right. Here's the URL. Go online. You will see my document online. So wherever you are around the world, even if you're in the middle of Siberia, if they've got internet access and you're there set up in the igloo, they can see your insurance. All right. Hope that's been a help. Practice and enjoy. Thank you very much.

This transcript was produced automatically from the audio of the video and may contain mistakes.