What is wedding insurance?
Wedding insurance can protect you against a range of unfortunate and costly events at your wedding.
These could range from losing the ring, to suppliers going under or the entire wedding being cancelled.
With wedding insurance premiums relatively small, and the cost of a wedding averaging over £30,000, getting covered could make sense.
How much does wedding insurance cost?
Wedding insurance premiums can be as low as £19 and as high as £310 or more.
A higher premium buys you higher levels of cover, as well as overseas and marquee cover. However, cheaper policies may suit many people.
Knowing your budget – the total cost of your wedding – is the starting point when seeking a quote.
You could also estimate how much the different parts of your wedding are likely to cost – such as the value of rings, flowers and transport, and make sure an insurance policy offers enough cover.
Do you need wedding insurance?
Paying for anything more than £100 and up to £30,000 with a credit card means you can claim your money back from your credit card provider through Section 75 of the Consumer Credit Act, if there is a problem with goods or services that constitutes a breach of contract.
This could include your reception venue being double-booked or the wedding cake not being delivered.
You could also use chargeback rules to get refunded, if you paid by Visa or MasterCard credit card for an item that costs less than £100, or you paid by debit card. Through this process, your provider can try to get your money back from the retailer on your behalf, but it isn’t legally obliged to.
Also check your home contents insurance policy – some policies increase cover for one month before and one month after the wedding of someone in the household to cover wedding gifts and sometimes items bought for the wedding.
Travel insurance is essential if you’re getting married outside of the UK, although it won’t cover problems with wedding suppliers or the venue.
The best wedding insurance policies
Which? members can log in to find out our scores for wedding insurance policies, covering all areas from overall cancellation to more specialised topics such as rings and photography cover.
Please note that at present many suppliers aren’t selling wedding insurance and so our wedding insurance reviews haven’t been updated since 2020 and only a small number of those listed are currently available.
If you’re not already a member, join Which? and get full access to these results and all our reviews.
We divide policies into four categories based on the overall level of cover offered as reflected in the total score:
Basic policies scored less than 48% in our analysis
Standard policies offer more cover, scoring between 48% and 62%, but could come with up to £50,000 cover for cancellation which is as much or more than half of the superior policies.
Comprehensive policies scored between 63% and 77% and can offer up to £15,000 cover for wedding dresses, rings and gifts
Superior polices reflect the highest overall level of cover available on the market.
Wedding insurance policy details
Which? members can log in to find out claims limits for wedding insurance policies, covering all areas from overall cancellation to more specialised topics such as rings and photography cover.
Please note that at present many suppliers aren’t selling wedding insurance and so our wedding insurance reviews haven’t been updated since 2020 and only a small number of those listed are currently available.
What about insurance for weddings abroad?
Although standard wedding insurance policy won’t apply to weddings abroad, many insurers offer specialised cover.
Even with wedding insurance, travel insurance is still essential to cover the bridge, groom and guests before and after the wedding.
