Taking out Wedding Insurance for your big day is a vital step in the planning process. Not only will it protect you if you suffer damage to your wedding attire or rings, but it also covers you if you need to cancel your wedding.

The scenarios in which couples cancel their wedding vary dramatically. Some will be out of their control, others will be through their own choice.

So, does wedding insurance cover a couple who decide not to get married? In short, no.

Insurance cover is designed to protect you against unforeseen events beyond your control. A couple simply choosing that they do not want to proceed with their marriage is not one of those events.

Although UK figures are hard to come by, a report in the USA suggested that one in five engagements ended without the couple getting married. That number reiterates the need for wedding insurance for all weddings, though it is worth taking the time to understand what is and what isn’t covered.

Financial matters

Weddings are expensive, there is no getting away from that fact. That’s why it is always advised to keep a an up-to-date budget plan when booking each aspect of your wedding.

Sometimes couples can find themselves going over budget, leading to a realisation that they do not have the money for other aspects, or that by going ahead with the wedding they put themselves in a tricky financial position post-wedding. Neither of these situations will be covered by any wedding insurance policy. The onus is on the couple to ensure that they can afford to pay for their wedding.

One scenario which could allow a valid claim for cancellation is if one of the marrying couple, or someone who is contributing financially to the wedding, is made redundant.

In this instance, so long as the redundancy occurs more than eight weeks after the purchase of insurance, there could be grounds to cancel the wedding.

Cancelling for health reasons

Protectivity’s Wedding Insurance policy states that it covers couples against cancellation due to “the death, injury or sickness of You or your close relative
which would make continuance of the wedding inappropriate”.

No one wants illness to put paid to their dream wedding. This is where having insurance in place can help the majority of couples needing to cancel or rearrange their wedding in the event of sickness.

However, as well as pre-existing medical conditions known about at the time of taking out a policy, there are certain illnesses that won’t be covered.

We appreciate that planning a wedding can be hard work and very stressful. However, choosing not to go through with your big day because of stress or anxiety is not something that will be covered under a wedding insurance policy.

In summary, the simple answer as to whether wedding cover includes a change of mind, is no. There may be occasions when you have to postpone your wedding, but a disinclination to go through with marriage won’t hold much weight in an insurance claim.