The security landscape is constantly shifting. And today, entertainment venues – such as escape rooms, immersive attractions, themed installations and live-event spaces – need to think carefully about one piece of insurance that they may not have considered before: Terrorism cover. 

Most venue operators will probably be aware that they can extend their insurance to include cover for damage to their property from a terrorist incident, and some will also be aware how it extends to business interruption. However, when it comes to the liability risks of the business, we see a gap in understanding.

Many operators wrongly assume their standard Public Liability cover protects them from “anything that happens”, including terrorist incidents. Unfortunately that’s simply not true. 

Here’s why including Terrorism cover in your Liability (and related) policies is vital – especially for visitor attractions in the UK.

How a terrorist incident can trigger liability and not just business disruption

Imagine your venue: packed with participants, immersive sets, staff moving around, and visitors wearing props and interacting with rooms and actors. 

Now consider this scenario: there is an attack near the venue. The police cordon off your area. You shut for the day. Visitors are stranded, staff can’t get in, bookings get cancelled or delayed. 

Even if your building and equipment aren’t physically damaged, your business stops. Reduced revenue, loss of attraction, refunds and reputational damage – these are all really painful for a venue. But it can be worse. 

What about how you manage the situation as it actually occurs? What happens if someone is hurt as a result of your actions during this incident? The ramifications of this can be far more severe, and potentially fatal to an attraction.

From a liability perspective, you could face:

• Premises liability – If someone is injured during an evacuation or as a result of panic
• Failure to warn – If you were aware of a threat and did not act, causing members of the public to get hurt
• Crowd management or emergency procedure failures – If your evacuation plan proved inadequate, with people directed towards danger

Ultimately, an attack doesn’t need to hit your venue directly to impact you. 

Why standard Public Liability cover often falls short

Public Liability insurance typically covers bodily injury or property damage for which you’re legally liable. More often than not, it doesn’t include liability arising from a terrorist incident, such as the failure of premises security, staff vetting and mass evacuation procedures – whether for genuine or hoax threats.

Insurers often exclude acts of terrorism entirely within their general policy conditions, and they’re not often able to add it back in even for an additional premium. This means that venues that want to protect themselves have to take out standalone Terrorism insurance policies.

Those insurers that will quote to add the protection back in might still restrict the limits provided, giving you less cover than you might have expected.

The best insurers for visitor attractions will automatically include terrorism within their Public Liability policies, and usually to a decent limit (such as £5,000,000).

Why visitor attractions are especially exposed

The liability risk for visitor attractions is different, and generally higher, than for most types of business. This is simply due to the high numbers of people that make their way through your doors.

A well-known brand, high footfall and public-facing operations makes a venue an attractive potential target for terrorists seeking to maximise fear and publicity.

It’s also problematic when you’re not the direct target of an attack, as having to safely manage large numbers of guests during a terror incident is extremely difficult. Avoiding panic while getting guests to do as instructed was hard 20 years ago, but in today’s instant social media world, it is even harder.

Another reason the exposure is often greater relates to the premises themselves. The nature of immersive venues tends to involve unusual layouts, with the movement of people sometimes in darkness or theatrical lighting. This can be a challenge for emergency response and increase the potential of accidental injury during an evacuation process.

Practical steps for your venue

According to terrorism insurer Pool Re, “the threat of terrorist attacks isn’t restricted to major cities … many businesses in the UK still have little or no Terrorism insurance cover, crisis plans or procedures in place.”

Your first step is therefore to review your current Public Liability insurance. If terrorism is excluded, tell your broker you need that cover added back in. If your insurers can’t do that, we’d recommend either purchasing a standalone Terrorism Liability insurance policy or moving to an insurer who can.

Outside of insurance, make sure your venue has well-documented evacuation and emergency procedures, and that staff training covers “terror event” scenarios. Whilst smaller venues might not fall under Martyn’s Law just yet, that doesn’t mean this best practice should be ignored. Being prepared reduces losses and supports your claim credibility.

Keep aware of changing coverage, too. The threat landscape continues to evolve (think cyber terrorism, remote bombs, and chemical/biological weapons), and insurers are tightening or redefining exposures. 

Protect your business from terrorism-related liability claims

For immersive entertainment venues like escape rooms and themed attractions, terrorism isn’t just a distant global headline – it’s a tangible risk. The consequences of an incident nearby (or even a credible threat) can reach far beyond lost revenue from refunds or days closed, and instead cascade into injury and evacuation liability. 

Without Terrorism cover embedded in your Public Liability policy, your business could be exposed to risks you simply can’t recover from.

That’s one of the reasons why No Spoilers carefully selects insurers that can provide terrorism protection under Public Liability for escape rooms, immersive experiences and visitor attractions. For the rare occasions where that’s not possible, we look to source standalone protection. We believe it’s just that important.

For a review of your policies or to build an insurance programme that covers your key risks, get in touch with our specialist team today.

Photo by Alex Beauchamp on Unsplash