If you are serving liquor to your guests most venues require insurance for the event. Your Homeowners Insurance
may or may not cover your event's liability, depending on numerous factors. But consider this, if you have a claim your homeowners will go up for a long time.
If you are renting premises that will be used to sell, serve or furnish alcoholic beverages to guests you need to ask yourself:
- What are my exposures to legal liability from the alcoholic beverages served?
- How can I transfer this risk to an insurance company?
- Do you need to purchase a special event/host liquor liability policy?
You are undoubtedly confused about the need to purchase a separate insurance policy just because you plan to serve alcoholic beverages at your event. We believe you need to know the facts so you can make an informed decision.
A lot of states have an established statute that imposes liability on the seller or giver of alcoholic beverages.
Depending on what state you live in, unfortunately, you, at a minimum, have an exposure for defense costs to defend yourself from claims or suits that arise out of your activities as a host.
Now that you know your potential exposures to loss, how do you protect yourself? Your question may very well be - "Don't I already have insurance protection for this activity?" The answer is maybe!
HOMEOWNERS INSURANCE
Discussions concerning the insurance protection afforded by homeowners insurance policies for the serving or furnishing of alcoholic beverages center on the single fact that there is no liquor liability exclusion. While in most cases this is true, there are other issues worthy of consideration.
• First, the limits of insurance for the liability insurance protection may be insufficient to meet the requirements of the facility where the event involving alcoholic beverages is being held. For example, the facility may require a $1,000,000 limit of insurance, but your policy only provides $100,000 liability coverage.
• Second, the facility often (or at least should) wants to be named as an additional insured on your homeowners policy. While individual insurers may develop insurer specific endorsements, there is no standard industry endorsement to name a person or organization as an additional insured for any activities exposures. And will the insurer specific endorsement apply to the liability and/or defense of the facility as respects the facility's own direct liability or will the insurance protection be limited to the vicarious liability exposure of the facility for your acts. The insurance protection needed or wanted by the facility may not be provided by your homeowners policy!
Finally, the homeowners policy is not written specifically to address the exposures created. The terms and conditions of the homeowners policy may not respond to the injuries sustained.
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