As we enter the holiday season, many board members and managers ask if they can serve wine (or other alcohol) at community events or meetings and if their insurance “covers that.” That’s a bit of a loaded question with several different potential answers. Instead of trying to cover all the possible answers, let’s talk about how to serve alcohol safely so liability for the association is kept to a minimum.

Many liability policies have coverage for “liquor liability.” This means that, as long as you aren’t in the business of manufacturing, distributing, selling, serving, or furnishing alcoholic beverages, if your association is found liable for damages as a result of providing alcohol, it should be covered.

Some associations throw holiday parties where alcohol is served and sell tickets to attend these parties. Since that could be seen as “selling” alcohol, it is recommended that rather than “selling tickets” you “request a donation” to the association upon entry to the party.

A great recommendation is to hire a bartender to serve the alcohol and be certain that the bartender has the proper training, license and insurance (and names the association as additional insured). This practice transfers much of the liability to the vendor and away from the association and is well worth the added expense.

One association got the creative idea to sell beer during Monday Night Football viewing parties at their clubhouse to fund reserves. While they got points for creativity, ultimately, they realized that to do this correctly and legally, they would need to obtain a liquor license and pay for much more expensive insurance which defeated the purpose.

Serving alcohol during board meetings is never recommended. While some meetings can certainly cause us to want a drink, the association is a business, and it is never recommended to imbibe while conducting business.

This wraps up Coverage Corner for 2022! If you have a question that you think would make a good subject, please let me know! We are always looking for new ideas.

From all of us at Berg Insurance Agency, we wish you and yours a wonderful holiday season!

Terri Guest, CIRMS, CMCA, EBP, is the Northern California Sales & Marketing Representative for Berg Insurance Agency and may be reached at terri@berginsurance.com.