As a DJ, you know how to show people a good time. After all, that’s what you do. But in order to continue to provide services for customers, you need to protect the business you’ve built. That’s why it’s important to have DJ insurance.
- The 5 Best DJ Insurance Companies
- What Business Insurance Policies does a Full-Time DJ Need?
- DJ Public Liability Insurance: How is It Different from General Liability Insurance?
- DJ Insurance for One Day
- How Much does DJ Insurance Cost?
- How to Get Cheap DJ Insurance?
The 5 Best DJ Insurance Companies
We considered a number of factors, such as customer service, claims service, pricing and products. We recommend the following companies.
- Simply Business: Best for Affordable Rates
- RVNuccio and Associates: Best for Instant Quotes
- Insurance Canopy: Best for Short-Term Insurance
- Thimble: Best for One-Day Event Insurance
- Prosight: Best for Professional DJ’s
1. Simply Business – Best for Affordable Rates
For our DJ business in CT, we requested a general liability policy with a $1,000,000 limit and Simply Business gave us this quote in about five minutes:
2. RVNuccio and Associates – Best for Instant Quotes
RVNuccio and Associates specialize in event insurance and other specialty insurances. You can get a quote online 24/7, and you can print certificates of insurance instantly. They work with several insurance companies to provide you with affordable insurance that fits your needs.
For our DJ business in CT with revenue of $80,000 (the same amount of revenue we used in every quote), RV Nuccio gave us this quote for a general liability policy with $1,000,000 limit.
3. Insurance Canopy – Best for Short-Term Insurance
Insurance Canopy provides you with one-to-three day insurance for just $59. This offers a generous $1,000,000 per occurrence and $2,000,000 aggregate. It should cover you in case of accidents to third-parties, for example, if someone trips over a cord to an amplifier and breaks an arm in the fall.
Insurance canopy also doesn’t limit how many people can attend your event—the cost is $59 regardless.
4. Thimble – Best for One-Day Event Insurance
Thimble can offer you a $1,000,000 policy that covers bodily injury, property damage, legal defense, and medical payments for just $15.88. You can get a certificate of insurance instantly, and even list additional insured people.
The only things not included are:
- Events involving firearms
- Performing work over three-stories in height
Considering the cost, Thimble is a great option for part-time or one-time DJ’s.
5. Prosight – Best for Professional DJ’s
Prosight insures roughly half of the top 100 DJ’s. You can get immediate access to your certificate of insurance and you have 24/7 access to policy documents. Since Prosight specializes in insurance for DJ’s, they have an understanding of your unique needs.
They do have online quoting, but when we tried it we got this:
They recommended premium coverage for our DJ business. However, when you put in your information, it’s possible they can give you a quote right away.
What Business Insurance Policies does a Full-Time DJ Need?
There isn’t a formal policy known as DJ insurance. Rather, DJ’s should look into different policies that protect themselves and their equipment. Below are the business insurance policies a DJ should consider:
General Liability Insurance
Sometimes, the venue hosting an event will require you to have insurance. If this is the case, they expect to see that you have general liability insurance. It covers:
- Third-party bodily injuries
- Third-party property damage
- Libel, slander, or copyright infringement
Third-party means anyone who isn’t you or your employees (if you have any).
However, if you only have General Liability insurance, your equipment is unprotected. That means if your equipment is damaged or lost, you could be out of work until you scrape up the money to replace it. Instead, you should look into a Commercial Property Insurance policy.
>>MORE: Best General Liability Insurance for Small Business
DJ Public Liability Insurance: How is it different from General Liability Insurance?
DJ public liability insurance is very similar to general liability insurance. It covers the claims made by the public in relation to your business activities, in this case they are related to your DJ activities. Public liability insurance cover the cost of claims in the following areas: bodily injury, property damage, and legal expenses.
General liability coverage is more comprehensive than public liability insurance. General liability insurance also covers personal and advertising injury. In the US, general liability insurance is the most common business insurance and offered by any business insurance companies. As a DJ, you should just buy a general liability insurance policy and it will cover all of your public liabilities.
Commercial Property Insurance
Commercial Property Insurance covers:
- Turntables
- Speakers
- Microphones
- Music collection
- Laptop
- Mixers
- Digital equipment
- Multi-players
- Decks
You could combine your General Liability policy and Commercial Property Insurance into one Business Owners Policy (BOP), thereby bundling the policies and saving yourself a few dollars. If you rent your equipment, you may not need commercial property insurance.
Since working as a DJ involves toting your equipment around from venue to venue, it’s also important to get Inland Marine Insurance.
Inland Marine Insurance
Inland Marine Insurance covers your gear and equipment when it’s in transit or when it’s anywhere other your place of business. Commercial Property only covers your equipment when it’s in your office or your home—wherever your base of operations is. Inland Marine covers you in case someone steals or damages your equipment.
Commercial Auto Insurance
Commercial Auto insurance might also be a good idea if you travel from gig to gig in your car or if someone else drives you.
Commercial Auto insurance covers:
- Medical payments for you or your passengers
- Collision covers damage to your car
- Uninsured motorist or underinsured motorist. In case you are hit by a driver who can’t pay.
>>MORE: How Much does Commercial Auto Insurance Cost?
DJ Insurance for One Day
What if you only occasionally DJ on the weekends for special events? In that case, you should look into a one-day event insurance policy.
A one-day event insurance policy is a general liability policy that lasts for one-to-three days. They can cover:
- Weddings
- Parties
- Music festivals
- Corporate events
What doesn’t DJ Insurance Cover?
If you get a one-to-three day General Liability policy, please note that your equipment is not covered. If you rent equipment or use the venue’s equipment, this would be fine. If you own your own equipment, you’ll want to look into Commercial Property insurance, which is not available as a one-day policy.
How Much does DJ Insurance Cost?
Insureon estimates that a general liability policy for a DJ costs about $427 annually, or about $36 a month. If you add other insurance policies, such as Commercial Property or Inland Marine, it will be more.
Insurance Canopy offers a one-day to three-day DJ policy for $59.
How to Get Cheap DJ Insurance?
The best way is to compare quotes from a few insurance companies to ensure that you get the cheapest quote. Comparing quotes with a digital commercial broker like CoverWallet or Simply Business is a great way since you can get quotes from several companies at once.
You also might want to get coverage for just a few days, instead of permanently and pay premiums monthly, if you only perform as a DJ part-time or occasionally.
Last Thoughts
Professional (or even occasional) DJ’s have to be able to entertain crowds and make sure everyone is having a good time. Don’t risk your business, even if it’s only an occasional business, by not having adequate insurance. You depend on your equipment, and every business person needs general liability insurance. That will help ensure that you keep the party going.
