Ticket Insurance: How to Insure the Cost of Concerts, Activities, Courses, and Events

An unexpected illness or accident can quickly upset your plans to visit a concert or music festival, take part in a sporting event, watch a football match, enjoy a theme park, or hit the ski slopes. Many ticket agencies capitalize on this risk by offering special ticket insurance. Some insurance companies include this cover in their travel insurance offers.

In this guide, moneyland.ch answers the most important questions about ticket insurance in Switzerland.

What is ticket insurance?

Ticket insurance reimburses the cost of tickets, passes, and bookings for experiences, if certain hazards prevent you from using your tickets.

Where can I get ticket insurance?

There are three main ways to get ticket insurance:

• One-time ticket insurance from ticketing agencies: Ticket agencies like Eventfrog, See Tickets, Ticketcorner, Ticketino, and Ticketmaster give you the option of getting insurance when you buy your tickets.
• Ticket coverage from travel insurance: Some Swiss long-term travel insurance offers include cover for experiences that automatically covers all eligible tickets and bookings you make.
• Ticket insurance benefits for credit card users: Certain credit cards include ticket insurance as a complimentary insurance benefit for cardholders.

What are the pros and cons of ticket insurance from ticketing agencies?

Getting insurance from ticketing agencies when you book your tickets can make sense if you only visit paid experiences occasionally – unless you already have ticket insurance from your credit card or long-term travel insurance. The disadvantage is that this insurance only covers a specific ticket. What’s more, it can only be used for events that can be booked through a ticketing agency.

What are the pros and cons of the ticket coverage included in long-term travel insurance?

The advantage of getting ticket insurance as part of a long-term travel insurance offer is that you do not need to get separate insurance for each event or experience, as all your tickets and bookings are automatically covered. Another advantage is that some travel insurance offers cover these costs up to the same limits that apply to trip interruptions and cancellations, which are normally quite high (in the tens of thousands of francs, for example). That is beneficial if you attend more expensive events and experiences.

The downside is that annual travel insurance offers are relatively expensive. Unless you attend many paid events or experiences each year, getting annual travel insurance just for the ticket coverage is not worth it. But if you also need trip cancellation insurance, trip interruption insurance, medical emergency insurance, insurance for search and rescue operations, and other travel insurance coverage, then using a travel insurance offer that also includes ticket insurance can be an affordable way to insure events and experiences.

Important: Events which are booked as part of a bigger travel package often are not covered by ticket insurance. However, these may be covered by trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance.

You can compare Swiss long-term travel insurance offers based on your specific needs using the interactive travel insurance comparison on moneyland.ch.

Ticket insurance may also be included in the trip cancellation or trip interruption insurance offered by airlines and booking platforms. In this case, only the events and experiences you book through the platform as part of the insured trip are covered.

What are the pros and cons of the complimentary ticket insurance for credit card users?

The complimentary ticket insurance that comes with some Swiss credit cards is similar to the ticket cover included in travel insurance offers. The advantage is that you do not pay extra for this insurance. The disadvantage is that the credit cards which include this benefit often have high annual fees. Unless you use all of the credit card benefits (like insurance and airport lounge access), it generally makes more financial sense to use a free credit card and get separate ticket insurance or annual travel insurance with ticket coverage.

Which experiences are covered by ticket insurance?

Typically, ticket insurance covers tickets for concerts, musicals, museums, theater plays, and sporting events. It also normally covers visits to theme parks, day excursions, ski passes, other temporary passes, participation fees for taking part in sporting events, as well as courses (educational courses, for example). The exact experiences can vary between insurance providers.

Which hazards are covered?

The exact circumstances that warrant reimbursement of ticket costs vary between insurance companies. However, they typically include:

• An unexpected, severe illness or accident: Most insurers also accept claims if a family member or pet becomes ill or has an accident. Some also accept claims if a traveling companion or a person scheduled to visit the event with you has an accident or illness that prevents them from attending. Maternity complications also typically entitle you to claim reimbursement for experiences you cannot attend.
• Death: A death of a family member or pet that prevents you from attending the booked event or experience is typically grounds to claim reimbursement.
• Maternity: Many insurers let you claim on the insurance if you become pregnant after buying your tickets, and the nature of the event makes it unsuitable for pregnant mothers.
• Severe damage to your home: If you cannot attend the event because your home and personal possessions are burglarized or damaged by fire, natural hazards, or water, you can generally claim on your ticket insurance.
• Employment-related incidents: Ticket insurance often reimburses you if you unexpectedly become employed, become unemployed, or cannot attend because your replacement at work is unable to replace you due to illness, accidents, or loss of employment.
• Transportation breakdowns, accidents, and cancellations: Some insurers reimburse you for tickets that you cannot use due to a breakdown of your vehicle or a cancellation of public transportation en route to the event.
• Loss of documents or tickets: The ticket cover included in travel insurance and credit cards often lets you reclaim the cost of tickets that cannot be used because your travel documents or tickets were lost or stolen. Note: Lost event tickets can often be replaced by the ticketing agency or event organizer free of charge.
• Extraordinary hazards: Ticket cover in travel insurance offers often covers cancellations due to unexpected war, natural catastrophes, terrorism, and civil unrest in your destination country. Epidemics may also be covered, depending on the insurance provider.
• Obligatory quarantines: Some insurance offers cover cancellations that result from your being required by law to remain in quarantine.
• Event cancellation and bankruptcy: Event organizers are generally responsible to reimburse the cost of tickets if they cancel an event. The same generally applies when the event organizer is forced to cancel an event or experience due to bankruptcy. A few insurance providers let you claim on your ticket insurance if you cannot get reimbursed by the event organizer.

Some hazards are only covered by a few insurance offers. Make sure to read the terms and conditions before you buy the insurance in order to make sure that the hazards you are worried about are covered.

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