Oktoberfest festivals are a staple of the fall season and providers should be aware what risks their clients face if they are a vendor or distributor at these festivals.
You can never be too prepared and the following 4 areas have been identified as particularly vulnerable.
Liquor Claims
Serving beer at these festivals can be a tricky endeavor despite the fact vendors do have the right to refuse inebriated and belligerent customers.
The issue is the vendors have no knowledge on customer’s alcohol consumption prior to the event. Should an attendee get in a fight or choose to drive a car and get in an accident, the person who served the customer alcohol could be liable for the damages.
Vendors should be sure that their business is covered by purchasing liquor liability coverage. Even if the vendor is not a bar or liquor store, he is still at risk if liquor is being served on their business’ site or grounds. In this case, the best way to protect a business is to purchase host liquor liability, which is tailored to business that are not directly involved in alcohol sales, production, or service, but may need coverage for hosting the event.
Slip and fall accidents
Considering the amount of drinking it comes as little surprise that slip and fall accidents are one of the most common event claims.
General safety protocols can mitigate against these claims such as having adequate security, sanitation, crowd management and first aid protocol.
Even preparing by having EMS services on standby or having a first aid station available for guests at the event can help reduce risk and improve response should an accident occur.
Vandalism
A lot of alcohol consumption goes hand in hand with rowdy, rambunctious crowds.
If a festival is coming up, local businesses should take the initiative to look into their current policies to make sure they are covered. Furthermore, it may be beneficial to check the businesses and estimate the value for all of the property in the store, and inquiring about the limits on the current insurance policy. While many business owners neglect to update their policies every year, it is important, especially when a festival is impending, that business owners be sure that the coverage limit is adequate should the worst occur.
Weather
Weather may be out of our immediate control but having coverage should the event get cancelled could save your client thousands of dollars.
