Rising public liability insurance costs threaten Somerset carnival clubs

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Take the case of the Westonzoyland Carnival Club. As reported on bridgwatermercury.co.uk, they’ve seen their public liability insurance premium rise from about £2000 last year to £4386 this year. More than double. Which could be more than enough to put some of the smaller clubs out of existence.

What leaves some clubs particularly aggrieved is that they feel they’re being punished for the poor claims records of others. As far as Chris Burge, chairman of Westonzoyland can recall, his club has never made a claim in the 51 years it’s been going.

And maybe that’s the problem. According to John Calver, a regional director of NFU Mutual, the claims that his company has paid out on in the last three years amount to more than eight times the premium income they have received from carnival policy holders.