Vendor-related issues continued to be the top cause of claims paid on wedding insurance policies, according to data out this week from Travelers.
The Travelers Companies Inc. released its wedding insurance claims data for 2025. The data highlights the top wedding vulnerabilities, which include vendor failures and extreme weather.
For the fifth straight year, vendor-related issues were the leading cause of paid claims in 2025, coming in at 55% of total wedding claims. That’ sup from th
e 2024 report, which showed that 45% of wedding claims were due to vendor difficulties, such as wedding planners not completing their jobs, venues closing and photographers not showing up,
Others top claims were illness or injury (16%), extreme weather (10%), accidental damage or injury (6%) and military deployment.
The Travelers Companies is a provider of property/casualty insurance for auto, home and business.
The six men working on the bridge were killed when the Dali experienced two power ou
tages and crashed into the bridge, causing it to collapse and the workers to fall into the Patapsco River.
Wrongful death settlements were reached with the families and estates of Carlos Daniel Hernandez Estrella, Alejandro Hernandez Fuentes, Miguel Ange
l Luna, Dorlian Ronial Castillo Cabrera, Maynor Suazo Sandoval, and José Mynor López.
A settlement was also reached in the personal injury claim by Julio Cervantes Suarez, a bridge worker who plunged into the river and was rescued.
In light of the settlements, Justice James K. Bredar has been asked to postpone the civil trial t
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hat was scheduled to start today. Bredar indicated that motion would be heard this morning. He previously denied a request by Synergy to delay the trial so that it could focus on criminal charges related to the
bridge tragedy brought against it by the U.S. Department of Justice.
The civil trial is to determine the liability of Grace Ocean and Synergy, both of which have
invoked the Limitation of Liability Act of 1851 to limit their liability to the current value of the ship, about $44 million. However, they have far exce
eded that limit in settlements of $2.5 billion with the state of Maryland last month and $102 million with the federal government in 2024.
The law firm representing the estates of the deceased workers called the settlements “bittersweet.”
“While we are pleased to reach this settlement on behalf of the families of those who lost their lives March 26 and the only person to survive a fall into the Patapsco River, it is bittersweet because these families won’t have an op
portunity to experience the seasons of life with their husbands, fathers, brothers and sons,” said L. Chris Stewart of Stewart Miller Simmons.
There have been seven settlements with Brawner Builders and its insurer Zurich American Insurance for reimbursements of workers’ compensation payments made to the Brawner employees killed and injured in the tragedy, accord
ing to a May 29 filing.
Ama Frimpong, an attorney with the support organization We Are CASA who represented so
me of the deceased workers’ families, welcomed the legal settlements while noting that they do not replace loved ones lost to this tragedy.
“While it is very important that some legal claims have been resolved, the pain these families have endured remains. Their focus will continue to be on rebuilding their lives,
healing from trauma, supporting one another, and honoring the memory of their loved ones after a tragedy that forever changed their lives,” Frimpong said in a statement.
