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Issue 3 2020 23 www.hae.org.uk www.eha.org.uk INSURANCE QUERIES INCREASE In the week before the lockdown was implemented, between March 15th and 21th, Brits were 14 times more likely than in the last five years to search “cancel wedding” on Google, according to Hell o-safe.co.uk . The term “postpone weddings” was searched between 19 times more than usual in that same period. As an immediate response to the outbreak of coronavirus in the UK, the number of queries for “wedding insurance” went up by 900% to 140,000 between March 8th and 14th. However, many couples were left disappointed and out of pocket by the wedding insurance industry. Many insurers refused to pay out for cancelled weddings arguing that despite policy wording covering infectious diseases, people were not covered because cancellations were down to the government-ordered lockdown, not an outbreak of COVID-19 at the venue. Labour MP Yvonne Fovargue, who investigates issues of consumer protection, said this argument was “sophistry.” “The government action was taken because of the pandemic,” she told Yahoo Finance UK. “It’s basically weaselling their way out of it.” Many insurers including WeddingPlan, John Lewis and Debenhams, then decided to temporarily suspend issuing new insurance policies. Insurer CoverMyWedding said that it would keep issuing wedding policies, but without any cover for claims resulting from COVID-19. After August 15th, UK wedding receptions had been able to go ahead with a maximum of 30 guests in the form of a sit-down meal, according to government guidelines. << “ 43% of weddings were cancelled in the Greater London area.”