Coverage built around the events you host.
Tell us your capacity, event types, alcohol service and venue setup. We’ll help you compare coverage options that fit the operation.
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WHO WE INSURE
Venue types we place.
Every venue type below is placed by a HIFA commercial broker. Not listed? Still worth a call.
Wedding Venues
Wedding Venues
One cancelled date carries deposits, suppliers and a reputation with it.
Conference
Conference Centres
Rigging, AV, and the attendee numbers that drive your limits.
Community Halls
Community Halls
Volunteer-run, hired out, and commonly underinsured for both.
Cultural Centres
Cultural Centres
Religious and cultural organizations renting hall space between their own programs.
Private Events
Private Event Spaces
Third-party hires bring risks you do not directly control.
Reception
Reception Venues
Plated service at volume, a licensed bar and a full floor of guests.
Multi-Purpose
Multi-Purpose Venues
One room sold as a trade show, a banquet and a rehearsal in the same week.
NOT SURE WHICH ONE YOU ARE?
Send us a floor plan and a season of bookings.
Send your occupancy, your liquor arrangement and a typical month of events. A broker reads that against the wording before anyone quotes.
Want to talk now?
WHO THIS IS FOR
Is this you?
If any of these describe your business, a commercial broker is worth the conversation.
1
Venues with a liquor licence, or that permit special occasion permits
2
Halls rented out to third parties who run their own events on your premises
3
Operations with a commercial kitchen on site, or in-house catering
4
Rooms that fill to several hundred guests when they are at capacity
5
Venues hosting weddings, conferences and late-night receptions
WHAT CAN GO WRONG
The claims we see most in event venues.
Common risks
Slips, falls and crowd-related injury at capacity
Liquor liability arising from over-service, including injury after guests leave
Property damage caused by guests or third-party vendors, and disputes over deposits
Fire in a commercial kitchen serving high volume
Loss of bookings and deposits following damage that closes the venue
Damage to or theft of hired-in equipment, staging and audiovisual gear
Damage to guests’ or clients’ property left on site between events
Theft or vandalism outside event hours, when the building sits empty
Coverage to discuss
Business Interruption
Liquor Liability
Equipment Breakdown
Tenant Improvements
Crime
Availability, limits and extensions vary by insurer and by operation. A broker confirms what applies to yours.
WHAT WE’LL ASK YOU
The questions that change the policy.
An online form asks what you are. We ask how you operate before approaching insurers.
01
What is your maximum occupancy, and how many events per week at capacity?
02
What is the mix of weddings, conferences, community bookings and private functions?
03
Do you hold a liquor licence, permit special occasion permits, or allow outside bar services?
04
Is Smart Serve certification current for everyone serving, and do you document it?
05
Is there a commercial kitchen on site, and who operates it — your staff or outside caterers?
06
What does your rental agreement require of caterers, DJs, decorators and security, and do you collect certificates of insurance?
Rather work through these with a broker?
REAL CLAIM EXAMPLES
Two situations worth understanding.
Guest injury at a reception
A guest falls on a dance floor during a wedding reception and suffers a serious injury, alleging inadequate supervision and over-service. General liability with liquor liability may respond to defence costs and damages. How the floor was monitored, when the spill was reported and what your servers recorded all become part of the file.
Illustrative only. Whether a policy responds depends on its wording, limits and exclusions, and on evidence of server training and service practices.
Fire closes the venue mid-season
A kitchen fire renders the hall unusable for four months at the height of wedding season. Property coverage may respond to the damage, while business interruption may respond to lost profit, and event cancellation extensions may address deposits that must be refunded. Whether relocation costs for already-sold dates are picked up depends on the wording.
Deposits and cancellation costs are often excluded unless specifically added by extension, and the indemnity period caps how long income is covered.
WHY HIFA
What a specialist broker does differently.
We treat liquor as the primary risk, because it is
Ontario’s approach to over-service liability is unforgiving, and a venue that serves at volume carries the risk of a severe injury claim long after guests have left the property. Host liquor liability and full liquor liability are not the same cover. Limits, server training requirements and whether you permit outside caterers or special occasion permits all change the placement.
We work through your vendor and rental agreements
Caterers, DJs, decorators, bouncy castles and outside bar services all create risk at your venue. We help you set out what those vendors must carry, what certificates you should be collecting, and where your own policy has to respond regardless. Additional insured wording and hold-harmless clauses decide who actually pays.
We cover the money as well as the building
Events are booked and paid for far in advance. If a fire, flood or extended outage means you cannot host, the risk is not only the repair — it is the deposits, the contractual obligations and the loss of a season’s bookings. We price downtime against your actual booking calendar rather than a generic indemnity period.
WHAT AFFECTS THE PRICE
Two venues hosting similar events can price very differently.
What affects your premium
Maximum occupancy and typical guest counts
Whether alcohol is served, and under what licence arrangement
Presence of a commercial kitchen and the cooking methods used
Security arrangements and staff-to-guest ratios
Building construction, age, sprinkler protection and fire alarm monitoring
Annual revenue and the mix of wedding, cultural and corporate business
Whether third parties run their own events on your premises, and what they carry
Claims history, particularly any liquor-related incidents
What to have ready
Occupancy limits and typical event sizes
Liquor licence details and server training records
Standard rental agreement and vendor requirements
Building details including sprinklers, alarms and kitchen suppression
Annual revenue and the value of deposits typically held
Security provider details and when security is deployed
A twelve-month booking calendar showing dates already sold
Values for staging, audiovisual and kitchen equipment you own or hire in
WHERE WE WORK
The western GTA.
Waterfront halls in Burlington and Hamilton, community and cultural centres across Oakville and Milton, and conference space in the office parks off the 403 and the QEW in Mississauga.
Common questions
What venue operators ask.
Do I need liquor liability if guests bring their own alcohol under a special occasion permit?
Should I require certificates of insurance from caterers and other vendors?
What happens to bookings and deposits if the venue is damaged?
Does my policy cover damage caused by guests?
Do I need coverage for equipment I rent in for events?
Does having licensed security reduce my premium?
READY TO TALK?
A venue policy sized to the events on your calendar.
Send your occupancy, your liquor arrangement and a season of bookings. A broker reviews the operation and comes back with options and what each one assumes.
Want to talk now?