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Law360, London (March 4, 2021, 5:00 PM GMT) -- The British government has extended to the end of the year a £500 million ($700 million) support program for TV and film productions that cannot buy COVID-19 cover from the commercial insurance market.
HM Treasury said on Wednesday that the film and TV production restart scheme will be extended for another six months, to the end of December, after Chancellor Rishi Sunak delivered his Budget to the House of Commons.
The initiative was launched to provide insurance on commercial terms to movie productions that have been unable to find appropriate cover. Many insurers have introduced sweeping exclusions to policies over cancelations or delays caused by COVID-19 as they seek to avoid making payouts.
"We are very pleased that the government continues to recognize and support the importance of the U.K. audio-visual economy in the recovery and its significant role in creating jobs," John McVay, chief executive of Pact, a trade association for independent producers, told Law360.
The fund opened in October after a delay in getting approval under the European Union's rules for state aid. The government said it has insured more than 160 productions through the scheme since then, supporting 20,000 jobs across the production industry.
The scheme is open for registrations until April, and claims can be made by November for the period between July 2020 and June 2021.
HM Treasury said in its Budget announcement on Wednesday that the government will extend the scheme for six months to the end of December "to continue to support the U.K. screen production industry."
A spokeswoman for insurance broker Marsh, which is administering the scheme, confirmed that the government's announcement meant that all deadlines had been pushed back by six months.
"The extension applies to all deadline dates, so the deadline for applications will move to end [of] October, losses to end of year and claims deadline will also move six months further down the line," the spokeswoman added.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Policies sold under the scheme will compensate movie or TV productions when they incur costs because of delays by up to 20% of the total budget. Studios will be covered by up to 70% of the production budget if they have to abandon a shoot altogether because of the pandemic.
But there is a total cap on claims per production of £5 million. Producers will also have to buy standard insurance to cover losses caused by factors other than the coronavirus.
--Editing by Joe Millis.
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