This is not legal advice, but shares some of Solar Citizens’ experience from organising the Logan Electric Car experience. Be sure to get in touch with your insurer to discuss what’s possible for your event, and get legal advice if you need it.

Wondering how to manage insurance for your electric vehicle event? There are some basic principles to consider before the big day.

Firstly, public liability insurance is available to provide protection if an attendee, exhibitor or service provider is injured or their property is damaged.

However our public liability insurance did not cover any incidents relating to vehicles at our event. This meant that display cars, and test rides were not covered by our insurance and we were careful to explain that to all participants via a waiver.

It’s also worth carefully considering ways to minimise risks, particularly if cars are moving while members of the public are in attendance. We had high vis safety gear and clearly marked off areas when cars were moving.

Evaluating the different dangers that are likely to arise is crucial because some common activities like test rides of electric bikes and scooters likely to fall outside basic insurance policies.

What about test rides?

We know that going for a ride in an EV is a great way to convince a prospective buyer to switch to electric, but there are risks.

As electric vehicle experience days become more common, many organisers are encouraging attendees to sign up for test rides with the owner in the driver's seat.

This puts the risk onto the EV owners, so it is important those offering test rides have a current insurance policy that covers them. They should discuss with their insurer, and as event organiser you should also let your insurer who is covering the event know you’ve got planned.

We got legal advice on the question of test rides, which we recommend to make sure you know where you stand when organising an event like this.

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