Several carriers have been altering their coverage since COVID-19 lockdowns started taking place.
Since the start of the pandemic crisis, claims on wedding insurance policies have been pouring in. This has had two major impacts on the market for this particular product. The first is that awareness of its existence has skyrocketed. The second is that many insurers have been working to change the coverage these products provide.
Many engaged couples are seeing this type of coverage as essential for the first time.
Since March 2020, when COVID-19 slammed many countries and US states closed, couples with wedding insurance policies were quick to contact their insurers to find out what to do. Couples who were only just starting their own plans began calling insurers to find out what coverage was available to them.
“When the pandemic first hit back in March, we were handling dozens of clients with cancellations, postponements, contract negotiations, relocations, and a flurry of questions from 2020 couples about how to move forward and handle their event in the safest and most reassuring way,” explained Noelle Ahmad-Snedegar, owner of the Lily & Grayson Events event planning company in Washington, as quoted in a New York Times report. “One question that we received many times,” said Ahmad-Snedegar. “and still continue to answer, is, ‘Do you think we should get wedding insurance?’”
That said, cancellation coverage is now offered by fewer wedding insurance policies.
While many agree that coverage is still important for protecting the substantial investment made into these events, cancellation coverage is not nearly as widely available now as it was ahead of the pandemic crisis.
There are two main types of coverage for these events. The first type is liability and the second type is cancellation or postponement coverage. Liability is the form that covers expenses relating to incidents that may occur during the event itself. This could include an injury to a guest or damage to the venue’s property, for example. On the other hand, cancellation or postponement coverage provides payments to reimburse for deposits made to various venders such as for the venue, photographer, caterer, planner, band, or florist, in a circumstance in which the event is forced to be cancelled or delayed.
However, many wedding insurance policy companies have halted the sale of that second type of coverage due to the pandemic. Others have altered their terms so that they still include unexpected events such as extreme weather, military 
deployment or other reasons out of their control, but that exclude reasons related to illness or pandemic shutdowns.
