https://variety.com/2020/film/festivals/cannes-film-festival-cancellation-not-
covered-insurance-coronavirus-1203527442/
Cannes Film Festival Not Covered by Insurance in Case of Cancellation (EXCLUSI
VE)
By ELSA KESLASSY
The Cannes Film Festival is among a number of events in France hanging in the
balance in the face of the coronavirus outbreak and the government’s recent b
an on gatherings of more than 1,000 people. In the event of a cancellation, ho
wever, the festival won’t be able to rely on an insurance claim.
The festival was given the opportunity by its insurance company, Circle Group,
to purchase a buy-back option covering epidemics and pandemics around 10 days
ago, and surprisingly declined it, according to a source at Circle Group, a l
eading insurance company whose client roster also includes the Cesar Awards —
France’s equivalent to the Oscars. The buy-back option represented around 6%
of the total price for the insurance package.
Because Cannes has declined to take the option, the festival won’t be covered
if it needs to cancel — even if organizers’ hands are forced by a governmen
tal decree.
The film festival, which carries a budget reportedly in the €30-million ($33
million) range, is financed by French taxpayers and corporate sponsors. Organi
zers previously told Variety they are monitoring the situation while pursuing
the selection of movies in the run-up to their April 16 press conference.
A Cannes spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment about the festi
val’s insurance policy by press time.
However, Pierre Lescure, president of the Cannes Film Festival, confirmed to F
rench outlet Le Figaro that the festival is not insured for coronavirus. He ad
ded that the offer made by Circle Group 10 days ago was “totally disproportio
nate.”
“We were only offered to cover ourselves for up to €2 million ($2.3 million)
while our budget is €32 million ($36 million). It was really peanuts. The co
mpany was clearly playing bounty hunter and we have of course declined this pr
oposal,” he said.
The executive added that the festival has a large endowment fund that will pro
vide “reserves” if the festival — which is forging ahead with its film sele
ction — is cancelled. The fund covers at least one year without revenue, said
Lescure.
Much like most insurance companies in France, Circle Group doesn’t cover canc
ellations due to coronavirus, as with other epidemics and pandemics. That mean
s event organizers have to book a separate buy-back option, but this can only
be done in early stages and before the virus passes a certain mark.
In the case of coronavirus, insurance companies have stopped making these opti
ons available to clients since the end of January, when the virus began grabbi
ng headlines. It is believed, however, that Circle Group was willing to make a
n exception for the Cannes Film Festival, as it did for other key clients.
For events which are not covered, such as the film festival, claiming a case o
f force majeure won’t suffice, even if the government requests a cancellation
or gatherings ban, said a spokesperson for the French Federation of Insurance
(Federation Nationale de l’Assurance). The spokesperson added that coronavir
us was not considered by French insurers as a case of force majeure because it
doesn’t fit any of the three defining criteria, which are “uncontrollable,
external and unforeseeable.”
“There is no way a cancellation due to a virus outbreak will be taken into ac
count by an insurance company as a case of force majeure if it’s clearly excl
uded from coverage in contracts — even if the government gets involved,” a s
ource at Circle Group said. “Firstly, this is due to a separation of powers a
nd, secondly, because making us change our rules on epidemics would sink the e
ntire insurance world.”
France’s restrictive insurance policies around disease-linked damages have co
me as a response to SARS in 2002 and MERS in 2012, said Alexandre Regniault, p
artner at international law firm Simmons & Simmons, who heads up the firm’s l
ife sciences sector.
“As time passes and these epidemics keep reappearing, it will become increasi
ngly difficult to argue that outbreaks are unforeseeable,” said Regniault, ad
ding that it was nevertheless possible in some cases to dispute the insurer an
d defend coverage, depending on the terms and conditions of the policy.
Laurent Cellot, the head of Gras Savoye Sports & Evenements, who works with cu
ltural and sports events such as the tennis tournament Rolland Garros, said th
at most major events now have a habit of undertaking an additional option that
includes losses due to diseases and epidemics.
Reacting to Sunday’s ban on gatherings of more than 1,000 people, Cellot said
the new restrictions will cause many cancellations, including sports games an
d other live events such as concerts and spectacles.
“Many events have been spared so far because organizers were able to work aro
und the ban on indoor gatherings of more than 5,000 people. For instance, ther
e was a big soccer game on Sunday between Lille and Lyon that gathered 30,000
people, but with this new ban, many events of different sizes are now being th
reatened,” said Cellot.
看到這新聞蠻驚訝欸，坎城影展為什麼拒絕保險公司的提議啊…（如果西南偏南看到，借
地下錢莊也會立刻買吧…）
坎城本來買的保險沒包含傳染病流行。但保險公司前幾天說如果加付保險總額的6%，就可
以理賠如果因武漢肺炎使影展取消所需的費用。但坎城拒絕…？？？所以是表示一定會硬
辦了欸…
是說，真心覺得法國人（歐洲人）沒有認真重視疫情欸…鄰居義大利都封鎖了。週末還快
樂舉辦藍色小精靈的數千人遊行。法網前天也說如期舉行，說在戶外ok的，幾萬觀眾馬照
跑舞照跳。只加了一條說不讓疫區的人買票…修但幾勒！法國自己都1700多例了，還有25
死亡，然後覺得自己不算疫區？？