Financial Ombudsman Service urges couples to say "I do" to checking their wedding insurance

With August being one of the busiest months in the UK for weddings, we're warning couples to check what their wedding insurance really covers, or risk being left thousands of pounds out of pocket if something goes wrong.

With venues booked, suppliers secured and deposits paid months – or even years – before the big day, couples are being urged to make checking their insurance part of their wedding planning.

Over the past six years, we’ve investigated more than 600 wedding insurance complaints, with claim declines, delays and valuations being among the most complained about issues.

Cases we see have included:

• venues becoming unusable following fires or flooding
• venues or suppliers going out of business
• photographers, caterers and other suppliers failing to provide the expected service
• illness affecting the couple or close family members
• cancelled travel disrupting overseas weddings

With potentially huge losses if things go wrong, it is vital that couples understand exactly what they are signing up to and speak directly to their insurer if anything is unclear to avoid costly mistakes.

Andy Wright, Ombudsman Director at the Financial Ombudsman Service, said:

No couple wants to spend the run-up to their wedding thinking about what might go wrong, but often significant sums of money are being paid out long before the big day.

Wedding insurance can provide valuable protection, but couples need to understand exactly what they’ve bought, what the limits are and, importantly, what isn’t covered. Taking a little time to check the details now could prevent them finding out later that their cover is not quite the perfect match.

If an insurance claim is rejected and people feel unfairly treated, they should complain to the firm first. If the problem isn’t resolved, they can contact our free, independent service and we’ll see if we can help.

To help couples avoid common wedding insurance pitfalls, we’re sharing tips to help them prepare for their big day.

1. Know exactly what is covered
   Don’t assume every cancellation, rearrangement or problem will be included. Check when your insurer will pay out, including for illness, venue issues, supplier failure, destination weddings, outdoor ceremonies and travel disruption.
2. Read the exclusions and limits
   Look closely at what the policy does not cover and whether limits apply to individual parts of a claim. Pre-existing medical conditions, overseas weddings and certain types of disruption may be treated differently.
3. Check who your contracts are with
   If a wedding planner or intermediary is arranging suppliers, make sure you know who you are actually contracting with. This can affect what happens if a supplier fails and you need to claim.
4. Keep your cover in step with your budget
   If costs have increased since you bought the policy, check the level of cover still matches the bill. Upgrades to the venue, guest numbers, catering, flowers, photography or clothing could leave you underinsured.
5. Buy early and keep good records
   Problems can arise months before the wedding day, including after deposits have been paid. Arrange cover in good time and keep contracts, invoices, receipts and supplier correspondence in case you need to make a claim.

To help bring the issues to life, we have shared case studies based on real-life examples where things went wrong.

In one case, a couple came to us after the business running their wedding venue went into liquidation, leaving them seeking to recover payments already made and the cost of arranging an alternative venue.

The insurer said the couple’s policy did cover cancellation and rearrangement where the venue was in liquidation. But that only applied where they had a written contract with that venue. In this case their contract was with a separate wedding organiser business (which continued to trade). The insurer paid the policy maximum of £25,000 under the section of the policy which covered the failure of a supplier to meet contractual obligations, but it refused to cover the cost of rearranging the wedding at another venue.

We agreed with the insurer, finding that the venue and supplier were separate businesses, so the rearrangement costs were not covered. This shows why it is so important for couples to understand their cover.

In another case, a serious fire forced a venue to cancel a wedding shortly before the big day, leaving the couple almost £6,000 out of pocket for venue and accommodation costs.

The insurer initially said some of the money should be recovered from the venue. But after the couple had unsuccessfully tried to recover their losses, we found it was unfair to expect them to pursue legal action against the venue before their insurance claim would be settled.

The insurer was required to pay the outstanding claim as well as compensation for the distress and inconvenience caused.