Many feel that this case could alter the way that artists and concerts obtain their coverage.
Though not seen as a part of the actual performance, coverage plays an enormous and vital role in making certain that a star will be able to be on stage, and the latest insurance news from Michael Jackson could play a sizeable role in the way that this process occurs from now on.
These insurers are responsible for paying for times when the star can’t perform and when concerts are canceled.
A jury in Los Angeles has recently made insurance news by finding that AEG Live was not liable in the Michael Jackson wrongful death lawsuit that was filed by the pop singer’s family. This was a massive case in which the court papers indicated that the damages may have been greater than $1 billion.
The insurance news that AEG Live was involved in this suit at all rocked the music industry for months.
This insurance news had entertainment insurers and concert promoters on edge as they wondered if they would be expected to increase their policy coverage for the acts that they insured and possibly increase the prices for that coverage.
Although AEG Live was not found to be responsible when all was said and done, experts are suggesting that this insurance news has still managed to send the industry to a place where they are rethinking their policies so that they can prevent the recurrence of similar situations at other points along the line.
Changes had already started to be made upon the conviction of Dr. Conrad Murray for manslaughter, when he administered a fatal dose of propofol – a surgical anesthetic – to the King of Pop.
This insurance news is according to underwriters who say that a performer or the promoter may soon be required to carry separate coverage on the entourage. According to the Aon/Albert G. Ruben Insurance Services Inc. senior vice president, Lorrie McNaught, “The biggest stars all have doctors and their own staff,” and posed the question “If you have a security guard who winds up punching someone in the face or kills someone, who is responsible?,” adding “Is it the artist, the bodyguard, the promoter? I think promoters will require stars to indemnify their own staff.”