For those who belong to a Beer / Wine Club only.
How do you take the responsibility off the host if a member had to
much and/or had an accident?
Is there a disclaimer that you may have to prevent a lawsuit?
Any info on this? Any form you use? Does the club have to be official?
What if its a "social club with no officers etc..
Please respond only if you are in a club or can come up with a
disclaimer that can be used. Any Lawyers out there?
B T W we are in New Jersey.

Tom

Tom -

I am a member of a club, and we have had discussions about this from
time to time. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe the law on this
is cut and dried - if nothing else, it will vary from state to state.
However, I don't believe that disclaimers, waivers, etc. between
members of the club would be of much use. The exposure here would be
the potential liability to a third party, injured by a club member or
guest after a club event. No amount of legal agreements between the
club members would prevent an injured third party from suing those
involved (although proving negligence might be harder, depending on
the facts of the case).

This is precisely what "dram-shop" insurance is designed to cover, so
that is one potential solution. Bars and liquor stores pretty much
have to go that route, but it's expensive. Aside from that, I don't
believe there is any particular "safe-harbor" rule or documentation
that would be guaranteed to protect you from liability. The best I
can come up with is to use good-faith efforts to assure that nobody
sells or serves alcohol to a member who appears to be intoxicated.
Our club, for example, has purchased a breathalyzer machine, and we
have made this available to members at meetings, in cases where they
weren't sure they were legal to drive. Something like that, along
with periodic reminders of club policy on avoiding potential drunk
driving situations, would help refute claims of negligence. They are
no guarantee, of course, and sympathies in court are more often with
the injured party, but that's the best I've been able to come up with.

Doug

"Doug" > wrote in message
...
> Tom -
>
> I am a member of a club, and we have had discussions about this from
> time to time. I'm not a lawyer, but I don't believe the law on this
> is cut and dried - if nothing else, it will vary from state to state.
> However, I don't believe that disclaimers, waivers, etc. between
> members of the club would be of much use. The exposure here would be
> the potential liability to a third party, injured by a club member or
> guest after a club event. No amount of legal agreements between the
> club members would prevent an injured third party from suing those
> involved (although proving negligence might be harder, depending on
> the facts of the case).
>
> This is precisely what "dram-shop" insurance is designed to cover, so
> that is one potential solution. Bars and liquor stores pretty much
> have to go that route, but it's expensive. Aside from that, I don't
> believe there is any particular "safe-harbor" rule or documentation
> that would be guaranteed to protect you from liability. The best I
> can come up with is to use good-faith efforts to assure that nobody
> sells or serves alcohol to a member who appears to be intoxicated.
> Our club, for example, has purchased a breathalyzer machine, and we
> have made this available to members at meetings, in cases where they
> weren't sure they were legal to drive. Something like that, along
> with periodic reminders of club policy on avoiding potential drunk
> driving situations, would help refute claims of negligence. They are
> no guarantee, of course, and sympathies in court are more often with
> the injured party, but that's the best I've been able to come up with.
>
> Doug

I agree with Doug. If you are worried about personal liability look into a
personal liability umbrella policy. One can purchase a couple of million in
coverage for $200-300.
Steve (retired, paranoid insurance adjuster)

I formed a group in Idaho in 2000 which still going strong. I looked
for a long time before taking the first step. At that time there was a
group of clubs in Oregon, Idaho, and Washington called the Oenological
Society of the Pacific Northwest with chapters in Portland, Seattle,
Yakima, Moscow, and about 10 other cities. They banded together to
carry a group policy for members and another for officers and
directors. In 2003 the insurance companies required that the policies
be split by state.
We shopped many companies and found a local office of Allstate who now
provides us both forms of coverage at an affordable rate.

If you charge for tastings, even if only to break even, you could be
found liable. I suggest prudence, CYA!

ted