Venues, schools, municipalities and corporate clients will ask a party rental company for a certificate of insurance before the truck is allowed in. This guide explains what they are asking for and the questions to put to a broker. It is not insurance advice; coverage names, limits and requirements differ by province, state and insurer.
The coverages you will be asked about
General liability. The baseline. Covers injury to people and damage to property arising from your operations: a guest trips over a tent line, a table collapses, a chair scratches a floor. Venues usually ask to be named as an additional insured on this policy for the event date.
Inflatables. Many general policies exclude or limit inflatables. If you rent bounce houses or slides, ask whether they are covered by name, what supervision and anchoring the policy assumes, and whether commercial-grade units are required. The bounce house rental guide covers the operational side.
Equipment (inland marine or contents). Covers your own inventory against theft, fire and damage in transit or at a site. Ask how equipment is valued and whether it is covered while at a customer's address.
Commercial vehicle. Your trucks and trailers, including the equipment on board while driving.
Hired and non-owned auto. If staff ever use their own vehicle for a delivery.
Workers' compensation or equivalent. Required once you have employees in most places; crew lifting tents and dancefloors is exactly what it exists for.
Cancellation and weather. Usually your own policy terms with the customer rather than insurance. Write the weather rule into the rental agreement.
Questions for the broker
- Which of my items are excluded or limited (inflatables, generators, pyrotechnics, anything with a motor)?
- What limits do the venues in my area typically require, and can I be issued certificates quickly for each event?
- Is equipment covered at a customer's address overnight?
- What does the policy assume about setup, anchoring and supervision, and do I need a written procedure?
- Does the premium change with revenue, unit count or staff, and when do I have to report changes?
- What records will you want after a claim (signed agreements, waivers, setup checklists, photos)?
The records that make claims simple
A signed agreement per booking, a signed waiver for inflatables, a setup checklist per unit per event, delivery and pickup photos, and a per-unit history. Software that keeps the agreement and the waiver on the booking, and the unit's history on the unit, means the file is already assembled when a broker asks. Share Marketplace keeps e-signed agreements and waivers on each booking and a history per unit. See event and party rental software.