Why not forget the idea of taking out wedding insurance? Planning and paying for a £20,000 wedding with no protection is great fun. Life's a gamble - why not take your chances on the most important day of your life? Live a little - live for the adrenalin!
It is an astonishing fact that a tremendous number of people do exactly this, despite the huge number of variables, gambles and risks to which couples have committed a staggering sum of money. With the average wedding in the UK now costing £21,000, and with each wedding involving an average dozen independent service providers or suppliers, failing to take out adequate wedding insurance could cost you dearly, and not just in terms of financial outlay.
Of the thousands of claims received by wedding insurance firms every year, it is interesting to note the proportion of the claims. For example, almost half of all claims received relate to bankrupt venues or suppliers. Unfortunately the past couple of years haven't been terribly kind for many businesses, and many have stretched themselves as far as they dare, and are now committing themselves as widely as possible in order to try to recover a more stable footing.
Clearly they're going to want to portray a solid and confident business posture, but how do you know what's really going on? Since you're planning a wedding at least several months in advance, and possibly more than a year in advance, it is impossible for anyone to predict how those dozen or so businesses will be coping that far ahead. It's hard enough for the businesses to have any clear idea of what the future holds for them, let alone their customers.
43% of all wedding insurance claims relate to bankrupt suppliers or venues, and in practical terms this implies that thousands of businesses during the last year have been bankrupted, gone out of business, and left weddings high and dry.
How would you cope if your venue was closed due to bankruptcy? How would you cope financially if you had to replace one of your major service providers or suppliers, possibly at almost the last minute? Many people would struggle, perhaps managing with a poor second best which will cast a shadow over their entire day.
Nearly a fifth of all wedding insurance claims relate to either a lost ring or a damaged wedding dress, and in either case, the cost of repairing or replacing the ring or the dress is certainly likely to be considerably more than the cost of the wedding insurance policy.
With over a quarter of a million weddings per year in the UK alone, this proportion of claims would suggest that around 50,000 weddings each year experience either a lost ring or a damaged dress. Without an insurance policy, either problem is certain to spell disaster, and the cost could be considerable at a time when many couples are already stretched far enough.
22% of all wedding claims relate to key members of the family who are suddenly unable to make it to the wedding. If the father of the Bride, the bride's mother, or even the Bride or the Groom themselves falls ill, has an accident, is stranded due to delayed flights, adverse weather or is even held by the police, what would you do?
In some cases you might regrettably carry on without them, unless of course the missing person happens to be either the Bride or the Groom. In most cases the entire wedding will have to be postponed, and this will inevitably cost several times the price of a wedding insurance policy. Statistically, this very real problem equates to approximately 55,000 couples each year.
Even the most confident gambler is likely to balk at such odds, and at such risks. When the happiest day of your life is at stake, why would you risk it for the sake of the cost of a wedding insurance policy?
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