When live entertainment venues started opening back up in 2021, the excitement level was off the charts. Fans’ desire for music, theater, sports and other live entertainment had been building for over a year while isolating and dealing with the myriad challenges of COVID-19. Virtual performances livestreamed on a computer or TV screen could only scratch that itch for so long.

While audiences were eager to enjoy the energy of a live event again, most were just as concerned about losing their ticket investment if they became ill with COVID-19 — on top of all the other reasons that might prevent them from attending. Having heard a million and one stories about how the pandemic had thwarted people’s plans, event patrons were understandably hesitant. What would give them the extra confidence to buy event tickets again?

Enter Changes to Event Ticket Insurance …

When the pandemic began, epidemic exclusions were common in event ticket insurance plans. If someone had to miss their event due to being sick with COVID-19, they typically weren’t covered.

Allianz Partners, who protected more than 55 million customers last year, recognized that something had to change quickly. In the industry, they have been known for continuously anticipating and responding to evolving markets and their customers’ and partners’ needs, and at this pivotal moment, they became one of the first event ticket insurance providers to introduce temporary accommodations for customers who had made COVID illness-related claims. During that time, Allianz Partners also put additional accommodations in place to provide customers with refunds of their event ticket insurance premiums when the artist or venue canceled their event due to COVID-19.

Since then, Allianz Partners has enhanced their entire product portfolio with new coverage, which is now available in all but a few states, for certain epidemic-related situations. If ticket buyers, their family members or event companions become ill with COVID-19 before the event, Allianz Ticket Protection reimburses up to 100% of the cost of their tickets (and fees). This protection extends to not only COVID-19 but also to future epidemics.

These just-in-time moves gave impassioned event patrons the security they needed to invest in music, sports, theater and other event tickets again. “I have used it [Allianz insurance] several times, usually to cover trips. I feel much more comfortable covering shows, events, etc. now,” Douglas P., a customer from Chapel Hill, North Carolina, who bought an Allianz Ticket Protection plan in January 2022, says. “I bought the insurance originally to cover the possibility of any/all of us getting COVID during this Omicron spike. Fortunately, none of us did.”

It was a win-win scenario for patrons and ticket sellers alike. While fans were able to scratch their itch for live entertainment — and still be confident about their investment — both large and small ticket vendors who offered this insurance to their patrons started to fill seats again and rebound more quickly. For some of these venues and ticket sellers, 2021 turned out to be a record-breaking year.

Providing a Safety Net for Patrons

Event ticket insurance has undoubtedly been a game changer for live events when it comes to COVID-19, but thankfully epidemics don’t happen every day. However, so many other unexpected situations that may disrupt event-goers’ plans do.

Having worked with some of the most iconic event ticketing brands, venues and teams around the world, while collecting millions of customer feedback points, Allianz Partners has designed their plans to cover many of the most common reasons for a patron to miss an event. To be covered under Allianz Ticket Protection, as a named peril plan, a loss must have occurred due to one of the plan’s listed “covered reasons.” Plans cover between 25 and 40 unique reasons for cancellation, which may include being required to work, a traffic accident on the way to the event, the babysitter doesn’t show up (because of illness, injury or death), emergency pet care, a ticket holder’s pregnancy and job termination — among many others. Check out a sample of one of Allianz’s plans here.

But the benefits don’t stop there. When a customer is traveling to an event, Allianz Partners also has insurance solutions that can cover both the event tickets and travel packages. Plus, their 24/7 Viewer Advantage equips event-goers with a wide range of assistance services — from helping make hotel reservations to providing parking information to arranging service for a broken-down car. Now that’s real peace of mind.

Driving Revenue for Ticket Sellers

Event ticket insurance is an important value-add for customers. But as is evidenced by venues’ turnaround in 2021, this insurance is also important for the ticket sellers themselves. For over 12 years, Allianz Partners has partnered with INTIX members — large and small — to support their customers and help strengthen their relationships with them.

Thanks to the peace of mind provided by event ticket protection, customers often feel comfortable buying their tickets earlier. Plus, Allianz Partners’ award-winning customer service acts as an extension of ticket vendors’ own customer service to provide hands-on support for their customers. Not to mention, an online portal gives ticket buyers transparency through the entire insurance process — from viewing plan documents to filing a claim and tracking its progress.

And a well-supported customer is a satisfied customer. In fact, Allianz Partners’ customers have awarded the company a 95% customer satisfaction rating, and 37% of those customers purchase insurance again.

Another bonus for ticket vendors is Allianz Partners’ deep understanding of event patrons. Each year, they analyze billions of data points and conduct over 2.1 million surveys to understand — and anticipate — what their customers need and what drives them to buy event ticket insurance.

In addition, they’ve developed a proprietary, AI-enabled marketing optimization engine that leverages over 900 unique, evolving customer segments and conducts over 1,500 experiments per year to better understand customer behavior. Thanks to this data-driven, test-and-learn approach, Allianz Partners is able to deliver more highly targeted — and successful — offers to event patrons and, as a result, drive double-digit insurance revenue growth for their partners each year.

Helping Ticket Sellers Thrive Today and Tomorrow

When COVID-19 threatened the survival of many venues and ticket vendors around the world, event ticket insurance helped consumers have the extra confidence to get back to live events. However, this essential tool doesn’t only come in handy during global crises.

Even the simplest, most everyday problems can put patrons’ investment at risk, and in turn, impact ticket sellers’ revenue and bottom line. Event ticket insurance belongs in all ticket sellers’ toolboxes through all the ups and downs, both now and in the future.

Learn more about the Allianz Partners Advantage and how their proven track record and constant innovation can help take your business and your customers’ experience further.

Terms, conditions and exclusions apply to all plans. See Details and Disclosures.

This article was sponsored by Allianz Partners.