Festival Cancelled Because of Rain: What You Are Owed

If the forecast for your festival weekend has turned grim, you are probably wondering two things: will it be called off, and if it is, do you get your money back. Those are two separate questions with two different answers, and there is a third one sitting alongside them that has nothing to do with cancellation at all: cover that pays out because of the forecast, whatever happens to the event itself.

If the event is cancelled

Whether you get a refund when an event is called off, for rain or for any other reason, comes down to the organiser's own terms and conditions, not to Rainy Refunds. Most festivals and ticketed events set this out at the point of sale. Some promise a full refund if the event does not go ahead, some offer a credit towards a future date, and some, particularly for outdoor events with high fixed costs already spent, reserve the right to offer very little beyond a token gesture. This varies a great deal between organisers, so the only reliable answer for your event is the terms you agreed to when you bought the ticket. We cannot give legal advice on what a specific organiser owes you, so read those terms, or ask the box office directly, before assuming either way.

If it goes ahead, wet

This is the case people underestimate. An outdoor event that goes ahead as planned, just in heavy rain, does not usually entitle you to anything. Rain is treated as part of the risk of attending an outdoor event rather than a fault of the organiser's, and ticket terms are written accordingly. You can have a thoroughly miserable, soaked day at an event that technically ran exactly as advertised, with no refund due from anyone, because nothing went wrong from the organiser's side. That gap, a wet day that still counts as a successful event, is exactly the case most people are uninsured against.

Where parametric cover sits

This is where Rainy Refunds is different from both situations above, because it does not answer either of those questions. It does not pay out because the event was cancelled, and it does not pay out because you personally got drenched. It pays out on one thing only: whether the Met Office forecast for your venue and time window crosses the rainfall trigger you agreed when you bought your policy, checked at an agreed time. If the forecast meets or passes the trigger, your payout is sent automatically and you are emailed to confirm it, whether the event ran as planned, was delayed, or was called off entirely for some other reason. If the forecast does not reach your trigger, no payout is due, even if the event is cancelled.

Rainy Refunds policies are underwritten by Tokio Marine HCC. Rainy Refunds Limited is an Appointed Representative of Stubben Edge and Partners Limited, which is authorised and regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority.

What it does not do

It is worth being precise about the limits, because this is the most common confusion. Rainy Refunds cover is not a ticket refund, and it is not event cancellation insurance. It will not reimburse your ticket if the organiser cancels for a reason unrelated to the weather, such as a headline act pulling out or a licensing problem. And it will not pay out simply because it rained hard where you were standing, if the forecast at the check time for your window stayed under the trigger. It answers one specific question, the forecast against the trigger, and it answers it the same way every time: automatically, with no claim to make and no case to argue.

Get cover for the wet day that goes ahead

Most festivals and outdoor events do go ahead in the rain. That is exactly the scenario ticket terms tend to leave uncovered, and it is the one Rainy Refunds is built for. If you would rather have a payout land automatically than find out afterwards what the organiser's terms actually cover, check whether your event is on the events we cover and buy your cover in the Rainy Refunds app before the day.