Travel Insurance for Travelling DJs

You’ve built a name in the music industry everyone respects- and now it’s time to take your career to the next level. Today Hencilla Canworth and the Performing Arts Travel Insurance team take a closer look at what you can do to make sure taking international gigs is as safe and easy as playing at the local pub.

Insurance as a Partner that Works With You

If you’re already working in the music industry, you know how valuable having the right insurance policy is when you need it most- and how damaging it can be to only find this out after the fact! DJ Travel insurance is particularly important when you travel to work.

Insuring your Gig- Wherever You Work

If you’re already gigging locally as a DJ, you're used to the rock road that a performing career can be. No matter how carefully you craft your plans, something can always go wrong. You’ve invested a lot in yourself and your act, from building your equipment up to ensuring you present a professional face at every gig. You’re a working business person. You need the security of knowing you can always deliver for your clients, no matter what hitches life throws in the road.

While it’s never great to have a gig cancelled at the last minute, or have to replace a vital part of your set, at least when the issue lies close to home it’s little more than an inconvenience you can solve as productively as possible. You can work around it, and get back to what you do best. All your local resources are on hand to help.

Taking Coverage Abroad

Now imagine being far from home when something happens to your plans. There’s no reaching out to your local network, or heading over to A&E for a quick patch-up and getting right back on stage. Even the smallest kink in your carefully laid plans could spell disaster for the entire trip, leaving you out-of-pocket in a foreign country with an annoyed client.

In a foreign location where you don’t know who to trust or where to turn for help, it’s even more critical you can get the help you need when you need it. And yet, when your career takes you overseas, you’re working in circumstances where it’s harder to adhere to your usual gigging routine. You have no real control over how an airline handles your gear or luggage, you don’t have local healthcare access, and you may not have your usual vehicle or network of friends and colleagues on hand to help out, offer a couch for the night, or cover you. Even something as silly as a twisted ankle can quickly turn into a gig-breaking disaster. No one wants to just hope for the best and trust nothing will happen!

This highlights how important it is to work with a specialised DJ-friendly travel insurance policy. Cookie-cutter travel policies won’t cut it.

With these travel policies you are covered for only ‘travel basics’, the sort of thing you’d need on holiday, with a standard travel insurance policy, with no thought to your career or the need to get on stage with a fresh, professional face no matter what happened earlier in the day . Secondly, it’s highly unlikely some budget insurance mill will even understand that you’re working, and on a short deadline to deliver for your clients. This is why working with industry specialists who understand your needs and line of work smooths the claim process. Lastly, but most importantly, many ‘holiday’ focused policies won’t cover you at all if you’re earning income while travelling, so not just any old policy will do.

The Effects of Trip Delays and ill-Health on your Work

A DJ is a lot more than his or her equipment! You’re a performing artist with a show to get on stage. If you can’t meet the demands of your booked gig, you lose out on revenue and may even face cancellation fees. But if ill-health strikes, or the plane takes off late, what are you going to do?

What might have just been a frustrating lost fee back home, possibly passed on to a trusted colleague so your client still gets their set, can become a massive cost-sink when you’re travelling for work. Especially if you have to seek medical treatment while abroad.

Likewise, it’s not always about you. What happens if you’ve already booked flights, but the gig cancels? What if there’s adverse weather that keeps flights grounded? Unless you’ve got an awful lot of funds to throw around, events outside of your control can burn a hole in your pocket fast.

Not, of course, if you’ve taken out travel insurance for DJs that covers you for these events!

What Travel Insurance for DJs Should Cover

It’s probably very obvious by now how travel insurance for DJs that’s formulated around your unique needs can save your bacon in even the worst circumstances. What matters most when selecting an insurance partner for your travels? While the list below isn’t exhaustive, it will give you a great starting point when choosing the right partner.

• Baggage Delay and Full Coverage: These two criteria protect you from simple delays (covering essentials while the airline gets your baggage to you) and ensures that you can get a greater payout if your baggage disappears for good.
• Repatriation/Evacuation: This portion of your policy helps you get back home if there’s a medical emergency or something happens to you on the trip.
• Coverage for Medical Events: Not only will this part of the policy reimburse you in the event you have to seek treatment abroad, but a good travel insurance partner should help you find the facilities you need on foreign soil, even over language barriers.
• Cancellation and Delay: Trip cancellation covers you for pre-paid costs if the trip is cancelled (for a covered reason). Trip delay coverage, on the other hand, helps you house and feed yourself if the trip or your homecoming is delayed.
• mergency Assistance: The last thing you need to be doing in the event of an emergency is fighting with language barriers or trying to figure out how to access help. A specialist travel insurance provider who is used to your industry and home language will help you get the help you need as you need it, and support you in making a plan.

As a working professional, it makes sense to look for specialist business travel insurance partners who understand what you do and have the ability to deliver where it counts. If you’re looking for travel insurance as a DJ, the Hencilla Canworth and Performing Arts Travel Insurance team have the insider knowledge you need to ensure a hassle-free, career-expanding performance, no matter where you’re going.