If you’re planning on furnishing liquor to your guests at your Halloween party, you may be subject to criminal and civil responsibility, or Social Host Liability, which can have a serious impact on party throwers.
The Insurance Information Institute offers some “tricks” for making your Halloween party safe.
How to Protect Yourself—and Your Assets
- Consider hiring a professional bartender or reliable friend to serve drinks. This will discourage your friends from mixing their own drinks and help to keep track of the size and number of drinks they consume. Most bartenders are trained to recognize signs of intoxication and will limit consumption by partygoers who have had too much.
- Be a responsible host. Limiting your own alcohol intake will allow you to better determine if a guest is sober enough to drive at the end of the night.
- Serve non-alcoholic beverages. Always have soft drinks, juices and other non-alcoholic beverages available for those guests who are driving or choose not to drink.
- Don’t serve alcohol to minors. Period. The legal drinking age in every state is 21 and, as a host, it is your responsibility to abide by it.
- Don’t force drinks on your guests or rush to refill their glasses when empty. Be a smart host; focus on creating a fun environment and do not push alcohol on your guests.
- Always serve food with alcohol. It is proven that food can help counter the effects of alcohol.
- Stop serving alcohol at least one hour before the party ends. Serve only coffee, tea and non-alcoholic beverages toward the end of your party. As the host or hostess, it is your responsibility to help your guests get home safely, so limit the amount of alcohol served toward the end of the party as guests prepare to go home.
- Speak to each of your guests before they leave the party. If you think someone is unable to drive, call a cab and pay for it yourself, arrange a ride with a sober friend, drive your guest home, or encourage that person to stay over. This will protect your guest as well as other drivers on the road.
- Encourage all your guests to wear seatbelts as they drive home. Studies show that seatbelts do safe lives.
“Talk with your insurance agent about your liability insurance coverage and any exclusions, conditions or limitations your policy might have for this kind of risk,” advised Worters. “Appropriate liability insurance coverage is necessary, but your insurance may not be enough to covera judgment against you as a social host. If you are also charged criminally, then it is possible that your policy will not cover the civil judgment.”
See the full I.I.I. article here.
For more information, or to check to see if your insurance policy covers your social host liability, please give us a call at 856-935-0845, or visit our website at www.hdyoung.com.
Henry D Young Inc is a Trusted Choice® Insurance Agency.
The information in this article is meant as a guideline only and is provided by. There is nothing in this article that alters the coverage or interpretation of any specific policy. Because some statements are generalizations, and because different companies’ policies contain slight differences, please refer to your specific policy. Call our office before making any judgements or decisions concerning your particular situation and coverage that may, or may not, apply.
