Thinking About Opening A Bar? Think About Liquor Insurance

By Author: Jason Conaway
Total Articles: 4
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Those who own bars or taverns or any type of business that serves its customers alcohol needs to look ahead and realize the types of claims that could arise and cost them significant amounts of money should they neglect to carry sufficient liquor insurance.

A key area of protection in this type of insurance is in a case where a customer becomes intoxicated and possibly belligerent and winds up hurting another customer or himself. This scenario happens more often than one might think.

If you’re a bar owner and one of your patrons is attacked or otherwise intentionally or unintentionally harmed by a drunken customer, who do you think the injured patron is going to come to for restitution? Yes, he will likely attempt to collect damages from the intoxicated party, but if it looks like your employees allowed the person to get too drunk, you can also be held liable.

Depending on the nature of the injury and the many factors surrounding it, liquor insurance in this case could save a bar owner tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars in both restitution and legal fees.
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By law, businesses that serve alcohol to customers can be held liable for actions caused by a patron who they allow to drink to excess. Of course, most bar and tavern owners have policies in place with their employees to help keep this from happening, but all it takes is one oversight to create a circumstance that could end in catastrophe.

Along with owners of physical establishments that serve alcohol to patrons, other individuals also can benefit from comprehensive liquor insurance coverage. These include people in charge of private parties, corporate events, dances and any other function where alcohol is served.

Liquor insurance policies sometimes are built within a broader reaching general liability policy. In other cases they are stand-alone policies. An insurance agent will be able to explain the advantages and disadvantages of both approaches.

Usual areas of coverage in a sound insurance policy include assault and battery liability, medical fees, mental/psychological suffering, attorney fees and more. An insurance agency that is experienced in this type of coverage can work with you to create a policy that covers your specific needs.

In summary, bar and tavern owners have many expenses to manage including payroll, equipment, food and beverage, sales and marketing and maintenance. These are necessary expenses as is liquor insurance. Without it, one unexpected incident could literally put the bar owner out of business and force upon him expenses he may never be able to pay.

Jason Conaway is a freelance writer interested in Hartzell Insurance Associates, a Hatfield, Pa.-based agency specializing in liquor insurance and a full range of other insurance products and services. You can learn more about health insurance companies in PA by visiting HartzellInsurance.com.