Only One Claim Per Drunk

Wednesday, March 13th, 2002 Liability Litigation

Pub owners in the state of Washington suffered a setback recently with a court ruling that serving two drinks to one drunk does not constitute two insurable occurrences. Reversing a trial court ruling in Spratt v. Crusader Insurance Co., a state Court of Appeals in Spokane concluded on Jan. 15 that liquor liability insurance is not designed to cover each drink served to an intoxicated customer. Lawrence Spratt bought liquor liability coverage for his Big Foot Pub & Eatery from Crusader Insurance Co. The policy provided an "aggregate limit" of $2 million for "all injury" resulting from the selling, serving or furnishing of alcohol. The policy also contained, subject to the aggregate limit, a provision called "each common cause limit."

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http://www.nationalunderwriter.com/pandc/hotnews/ArcPC.asp?article=1_29_02_16_3990.xml

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