People who throw Super Bowl parties are usually ready for a good time, but many don't know they could lose their home if a guest who drinks too much is injured during or after the party, or is in a car accident following the event.
A recent survey by Trusted Choice, a group of independent insurance and financial agents, showed that a majority (53 percent) of the 1,000 respondents who identified themselves as “party hosts” felt they should be held responsible if someone who drank at their home was involved in an accident.
However, 42 percent of those same hosts said they didn't have a personal umbrella insurance policy that would protect their assets; 41.2 percent said they did; 14.2 percent didn't know; and 2.6 percent refused to answer.
“We recommend that if you're having a large gathering – a Super Bowl party, a wedding or any kind of party – you should talk to your insurance agent and make sure you have enough insurance,” said Madelyn Flannagan, vice president of education and research at the Independent Insurance Agents and Brokers of America.
“The Super Bowl is a time when you're going to have a lot of folks in your home and people are going to be drinking,” Flannagan added.
MADD, Mothers Against Drunk Drivers, has identified Super Bowl Sunday as one of the worst days (after New Year's Eve) for alcohol-related traffic deaths.
California doesn't have a social host law that holds party throwers liable for serving alcohol to obviously intoxicated guests, making it difficult to mount a case in criminal court. But they can be sued in the same way in which O.J. Simpson, though acquitted of murder in criminal court, was found guilty in a wrongful death suit and given heavy financial penalties in civil court.
“If you're taken to court, you have no control over the circumstances. When it's a social question such as an intoxicated individual injuring another individual, that pulls at the heartstrings of a jury or judge. There's always the possibility that you can have a judgment that exceeds your assets, and you can lose your house,” said Peter Griffith, president of C. Lee Williams Insurance and Associates in Murphy Canyon.
