Tour traffic: event organizers may be required to insure the audience
Spectators of concerts and sports matches must necessarily be insured against the risks of harm to health. A new responsibility may fall on the shoulders of event organizers. This proposal was made by Rospotrebnadzor, and the Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation intends to recommend that the government consider this initiative, Izvestia learned. How prices for concerts and other mass events may change is in the Izvestia article.
Responsibility of event organizers
The Council of Legislators of the Russian Federation intends to recommend to the government to assess the rationality of compulsory liability insurance for organizers of mass events — concerts, sports matches — for causing harm to the life and health of spectators. This advisory body (which includes Chairman of the Federation Council Valentina Matvienko, Speaker of the State Duma Vyacheslav Volodin, their deputies and heads of regional parliaments) plans to take such an initiative after hearing a report by the head of Rospotrebnadzor Anna Popova on consumer protection issues in March. Many of her ideas formed the basis for the decisions following the council's results. Izvestia reviewed the agenda of the meeting, as well as draft instructions to the Parliament and the government on its results.
The initiative assumes that the cost of such insurance will need to be indicated in the ticket price. A representative of Deputy Chairman of the State Duma Irina Yarovaya, who led the meeting of the presidium of the council, told Izvestia that the decisions following the meeting had not yet been approved, and the document listing the measures was in draft status. The editorial board sent requests to the Federation Council, the State Duma and Rospotrebnadzor.
It is not the first time that the issue of compulsory liability insurance for organizers of mass events in relation to the life and health of spectators has been raised, but it is still relevant, Chairman of the Consumer Union of the Russian Federation Alexey Koitov told Izvestia. For example, similar initiatives were put forward after the fire at the Winter Cherry shopping center in Kemerovo (60 people died and 79 others were injured) and after the tragic events at Crocus City Hall (145 dead), he recalled.
— In the case of the proposal that is being discussed now, a new condition is important.: The cost of insurance must be indicated on the ticket. In this case, there will be less manipulation: there will be a mechanism that will motivate the organizers to pay more attention to people's safety," the expert said.
Compulsory liability insurance is not just an opportunity for compensation, it is an enhancement of market control over the safety of services, Oleg Pavlov, head of the Public Consumer Initiative, supported his colleague.
"The insurance companies involved will be interested in minimizing risks and potential payments and will additionally monitor the fulfillment of all safety requirements by the organizers of mass events," he explained.
The expert also recalled that such insurance is already widespread abroad — in North America, Western Europe, and Australia.
According to Alexey Koitov, insurers in Russia also offer such a product, but so far it is voluntary. Although in the future it can be expanded to a mandatory level, and promptly, the expert believes.
Indeed, insurers already have a product on voluntary civil liability insurance, said Galina Luneva, head of Rosgosstrakh's Underwriting Department for Liability and Financial Risks. This service is unpopular: we are talking about one-time contracts. For example, the company insured the organizers of the festival "Invasion", "Manor Jazz" and others.
In Russia today, few people insure their liability voluntarily, as a result, the full brunt of the consequences falls on the shoulders of the state, from which victims expect compensation, Svetlana Povtareva, head of the AlfaStrakhovanie liability insurance department, told Izvestia.
How will insurance affect ticket prices?
Earlier, in 2023, the All-Russian Union of Insurers (VSS) proposed such a duty for companies if they organize an event at facilities with an area of more than 50 square meters. m with the number of participants starting from 50 people. A representative of the VSS told Izvestia that the organization still supports such an initiative, since "today, visitors to mass events are not financially protected in case of harm to them."
— Accidents in crowded places are not uncommon, insurance will guarantee victims compensation for the damage caused. It can be mandatory or voluntary," the VSS said. — The amount of compensation limits for harm to life and health may be 2-3 million rubles per victim. Such insurance will not be a significant burden for the owner of the facility.
According to Dmitry Shishkin, head of Ingosstrakh's liability insurance department, depending on the characteristics of the sites and the specifics of the events, the cost of insurance may vary, for example, now the price of such a service ranges from 30 to 500 thousand rubles. With this approach, the victim is compensated for the damage caused: medical expenses, lost earnings, damage to property — clothes, mobile phone, car, and so on.
— We have been insuring the largest mass sporting events in Russia for many years. We believe that this approach is a civilized and effective way to compensate for damage and protect the interests of both the audience and the organizer of the event," he said. — According to our calculations, the ticket price will not change or will change very slightly, which will be unnoticeable to the audience.
In response to a request from Izvestia, the Kontinental Hockey League drew attention to a special clause in the technical regulations of the competition, which already implies that matches can only be held in those arenas that are insured, including under compulsory civil liability insurance. The Russian Football Union did not respond to Izvestia's questions. The editorial board also sent inquiries to the largest concert venues of the Russian Federation — VTB Arena, MTS live and others.
Dmitry Shishkin recalled that in foreign practice, de facto liability insurance is standard: all event organizers insure their liability, and inform people about it in various ways - for example, on tickets or on their website.
The SOGAZ company told Izvestia that the availability of such an insurance policy from the event organizer may affect the final cost of tickets, we are talking about an increase in the range of 1-3%. For large events with a large number of spectators, the load on one ticket will be minimal, although if an insured event occurs, compensation for victims will depend on the severity of the damage: in case of serious injuries, payments can reach several million. AlfaStrakhovanie agrees: the ticket price will increase by a maximum of 3%.
Ilya Bachurin, General Director of Mosconcert, positively assessed the proposed measure. He stressed that a detachment of armed men cannot stand at the entrance to every room where a mass event is held.
— Insurance can be a compensation for the risks that a person carries. On the other hand, people will have to pay for this risk reduction themselves — the ticket price may increase, he believes.
But a large number of incidents at mass events is an exception rather than a pattern, Pavel Lyulin, vice president of the Union of Shopping Centers, told Izvestia. Therefore, compulsory insurance of people will become an additional burden, which will eventually be transferred to the ticket price, he believes.
Переведено сервисом «Яндекс Переводчик»
