Olivia PowellHellfest, a French heavy metal festival, has announced that it will not be receiving a payout from its insurance company, as it has deemed Covid-19 to be the wrong ‘type’ of pandemic.
The music festival took out a €175,000 (£152,662) policy with French insurance company ALBINGIA to cover potential risks that could cause the festival to be closed. The contract stated that financial losses due to possible pandemics will be covered if the contract is signed before the outbreak, and the pandemic is recognised by the French authorities or the World Health Organisation (WHO). The Hellfest organisers signed the contract with ALBINGIA on 17 December, 2019, before Covid-19 appeared in China.
However, ALBINGIA have so far refused to pay back Hellfest, citing that the Covid-19 pandemic does not fit the ‘type’ of pandemic given in the insurance policy.
Hellfest said they wanted to ‘shed light today on these shameful practices especially in times like this’, and will be taking legal action against the firm.
The festival also said that ‘solidarity and commitments compliance should be the main concerns of insurers company’ and that while Hellfest’s organisers are waiting for a long procedure ‘only two words come to [them] for [the] specialised event and audiovisual insurance company: F**K YOU!’.
Hellfest will next take place from 18-21 June 2021.