Music, as they say, is visceral. What may lift the soul of one music lover can put another person’s teeth on edge. You can’t please all the people all the time, but what if the person you don’t please is paying for your services?
DJs, no matter how famous or how ‘local’, have all got their horror stories of what happens when a set falls flat. Nobody dances, the customer is livid and a wedding reception, birthday party or even a major concert is ruined. In these litigious times, rather than fisticuffs outside, the client is far more likely to sue the DJ in a small claims court later on.
This is why it’s so important these days for DJs to have Public Liability Insurance. Not only does PLI protect you against injury or damage to property, but it could also protect you against financial loss if someone decided to pursue a claim for a sub-standard service – namely a set that fails to get the punters dancing.
A contentious issue
It can be very difficult to defend yourself against the opinion of one person who is claiming ‘undue distress’ for example. How can you prove that the client’s event has been ruined due to your taste in music or the quality of your DJ’ing? But these days people can and do bring civil action for what is known as ‘mental anguish’.
This is defined as psychological distress experienced as a result of traumatic events. However, the onus does lie on the person bringing the case to prove that they have been affected by the actions of someone else, and mental anguish cases are most often brought when someone has suffered physical harm, rather than offended sensitivities! However, there is a caveat known as negligent infliction of emotional distress, in which it may be argued that while there may have been no actual intention to cause distress, the event still occurred and that intentional or not, the plaintiff feels that your actions have contributed to that distress.
However unlikely as they may be, cases like this can still cost you a great deal of money, so it’s important to have the right kind of DJ insurance so that you’re not left financially out of pocket. Public Liability cover may provide you with the protection you need from this kind of claim, but it’s always best to talk to a specialist broker who will be able to advise you on the best type of cover to have.