Liquor liability insurance in Spokane

Washington allows an injured person to sue the business that served an apparently intoxicated customer or a minor. That is dram shop liability, and standard general liability policies exclude it for businesses that sell alcohol — so it has to be bought deliberately.

Washington dram shop law

Washington permits a claim against a commercial alcohol seller who served either an apparently intoxicated person or someone under 21, where that service was a proximate cause of the harm. The phrase that matters is apparently intoxicated — it turns on what a reasonable server should have observed, not on a blood alcohol reading taken hours later. That makes server training, documented refusals and incident logs genuinely useful evidence rather than paperwork.

Claims are infrequent and severe. A single drink-driving collision can involve catastrophic injury, several plaintiffs and a defence running well into six figures before anyone discusses settlement.

Why general liability will not cover it

Every standard general liability form contains a liquor liability exclusion that applies to any business in the trade of manufacturing, distributing, selling or serving alcohol. If that is you, the exclusion applies and the coverage must be added separately — either as an endorsement or a standalone policy.

The counterpart is host liquor liability, which is usually included in general liability for businesses that are not in the alcohol trade — the office holding a Christmas party, say. It is not a substitute. If you hold a liquor licence, host liquor liability does not help you.

Who needs it in Spokane

Anyone with a Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board licence: restaurants, bars and taverns, breweries and taprooms, wineries and tasting rooms, distilleries, liquor and grocery stores selling off-premises, caterers whose staff pour at events, venues, and festival or event operators serving under a banquet permit.

Landlords should pay attention too. If you lease space to a bar or restaurant, you can be named in a dram shop suit as the property owner, and that is worth addressing in both the lease and your own policy.

What drives the price

Alcohol as a percentage of total sales is the single biggest factor — a restaurant at 15% is in a different band from a tavern at 85%. After that: closing time, whether you have entertainment or dancing, your seating and occupancy, your claims history, and whether your servers hold current Washington alcohol server permits. Assault and battery coverage is frequently sublimited or excluded at late-closing venues, and it is worth knowing which you have before an incident rather than after.