What’s the Liability?

As a personal Host, you do have potential liability for bodily injury or property damage to third parties which arises out of the negligent serving or distribution of alcohol at your party, be it a small backyard BBQ setting, or a holiday gathering. The insurance provided by most home/condo/tenants insurance policies may protect you from a liability claim arising from a private social gathering in your home, but you should confirm this with your broker/agent first.

As a business or non-profit organization, it is very important that you review your insurance protection first with your broker or agent if you have any plans to host such an event. While some commercial insurance policies are able to accommodate an event involving liquor, additional information may be required to endorse the policy accordingly. In some cases, host liquor liability is expressly excluded and must be arranged by your Broker for your function.

Liability for claims arising out of social hosting can arise from many different avenues, including:

• Server – Serving people past the point of intoxication;
• Occupier – Whether you own the space or are temporarily renting the venue, you have responsibility for protecting the people on premises from harm;
• Employer – You have a responsibility for your employees at staff functions.

Special Occasion Permit

Functions with more attendees, ticketed events, or those involving the sale of alcohol may require the purchase of a Special Occasions Permit. SOPs allow for the sale and service of alcohol on special occasions, and are required any time alcohol is offered for sale or is served anywhere other than in a licensed establishment (eg. bar or restaurant), or in a private place (eg. office or home). Special Occasion Permits are available from the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (link) and are reviewed and approved based on the nature of your function.

Party Alcohol Liability Insurance

Party Alcohol Liability insurance is a low-cost policy, designed to provide protection when lawsuits are brought against individuals, organizations, or companies who host events with alcohol service. This is typically provided when you are in a situation where an SOP is required, such as weddings, stag & does, banquets, dances, socials, cocktail/Holiday parties, etc. Contact your Broker to request a quote.

Risk Management & Avoiding Issues

Here’s some advice for curtailing over-consumption of alcohol:

• Be aware of the designated drivers in attendance. If other guests are unable to drive safely, the DDs may be able to help
• Provide non-alcoholic drink and food options to all guests throughout the party
• Implement a cut-off time for alcohol service, even at private functions. For example: stop serving alcohol some time before you expect your guests will leave. You may also serve other drinks, like coffee or tea, and encourage guests to have water.
• Be prepared with excess cash to offer to pay for guests’ cab rides if necessary. You may also have extra space set up in your home to house last-minute overnight guests.
• Have no reservations about asking for someone’s keys if you suspect they are too intoxicated to drive.
• If alcohol service is being provided at a larger function, or one involving an SOP, ensure that servers are Smart Serve certified.
• The legalization of cannabis adds an additional layer of complexity, as guests may mix intoxicants. Keep a keen eye on your attendees to watch for over-consumption.

What To Do In A Claim

In the event of a claim, here’s what to do:

• Contact your representative at Cade as soon as possible.
• Make a note of all the relevant details of the incident, including the date, time, witnesses’ names and contact information.
• Don’t confess liability; always direct any discussions with the claimant to your insurer for further comment.

Whatever the occasion, be wary of how much your attendees are drinking. It is your responsibility to ensure your guests are having a good time in a safe manner. Take the lead on educating yourself and your team about what you’re responsible for when holding a party. Be prepared with several methods of getting your guests home safely if they are too intoxicated to drive themselves and others.

Get in touch with us today at clientservices@cadeinsurance.ca to discuss how to prepare for your next event.

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With the wide media coverage of the security breaches that have happened at larger corporations over the past few years, including Wal Mart, Target and Sony, small business and not-for-profit organizations still have a tendency to believe they are not a target for cyber criminals. As a result, they are hesitant to spend the necessary time and money to improve the security of their computer systems.   However, cyber attacks against small organizations is significantly on the rise, with small business accounting for over 70% of cyber breaches in Canada!   With easier access to small business, the hacker is aware that their hack into the computer systems of the unprepared small business could easily provide a doorway to not only confidential customer information, but also the back door into larger partner supply chains.

Whether the breach of confidential data is a result of an attack conducted by a sole hacker, an organized cyber-crime group, or by the accidental loss or theft of an employee or volunteer’s laptop or smartphone, the result of the breach will be costly to the organization, unless Cyber insurance has been purchased!

Cyber Insurance

The Canadian insurance market offers many choices for Cyber Insurance.  Often, the coverages may be selected and customized to meet the specific needs of the organization. Most commonly, a Cyber policy will provide two areas of protection:

• First party coverage expenses – to cover the costs incurred by the organization, following a security hack. Costs and expenses typically covered by a Cyber policy include:
  • Crisis Event management: the cost to hire a specialized public relations firm to mitigate negative publicity and restore confidence ins clients/members/public
  • Notification Expense: the cost to notify every client/customer/supplier/business partner regarding the breach and, where applicable, the cost to provide them with credit monitoring services.
  • Investigation and Remediation Expense – the costs to hire a Breach Response firm to assist and restore/replace/reproduce computer programs that were damaged or destroyed by the hack/virus/breach
  • E-commerce extortion – to replace money paid by a business to an extortioner, in response to a threat that confidential information will be disclosed to the public.
  • Loss of Earnings – to replace lost earnings if the business operations are interrupted as a result of the breach.
• Third Party coverage – providing legal defence to the business if a law suit is brought by disgruntled clients, customers, suppliers, business partners etc. that allege they have suffered financially as a result of the breach of their confidential information.

Businesses and non-profits will benefit from a tailored cyber insurance policy, and the customizable nature of this product means organizations of all sizes may find their fit in coverage and pricing.

Consider the following when purchasing Cyber Insurance:

• Data – What is the nature of the data you hold? Is it primarily client/member contact details, or do you have more privileged information, such as medical, payroll, or credit card information. How many records do you retain?
• Protection – What protection measures do you have in place for your data? Is your organization using cloud-based services, like OneDrive or Dropbox, or do you store your information locally on a physical server or computer? Are anti-virus and firewall programs running and actively updated? Do you have password protection measures and limit access to only those who require the use of the data?
• Possible Loss – What is the possible scope of your loss? What is the potential damage to others if your data is breached? Would it be a loss of client email addresses, possibly some proprietary information, customer personal or business financial information, or private medical information, that could have serious ramifications?

Even when a breach involves only personal contact information (email addresses etc.) in which there is no evidence of resulting malicious activity, Canadian courts are awarding a minimum of $500+ per lost record. If you hold hundreds or thousands of records, this will easily result in a financially devastating loss. The addition of a Cyber Insurance policy to your commercial insurance portfolio will not only provide peace of mind, but also grant access to through your Insurance provider to professional resources that will provide invaluable assistance to your organization, not only at the time of loss, but proactively, to prepare and manage cyber risk in advance of any breach.

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An exciting opportunity for non-profit organizations and local community organizations!! Aviva Canada, one of Canada’s leading Insurers, is now in its 9^th year of offering the Aviva Community Fund to invest in charitable community initiatives across Canada! Associations and non-profit organizations are invited to submit their ideas and projects for potential funding in one of three categories

• Community Development – Education, skills training, culture, research and basic needs
• Community Health – Health, sport, active living and play
• Community Resilience – Environment, climate, disaster relief and prevention

Ideas can be small (requiring funding up to $50,000) or large (up to $100,000). Once your idea is submitted, spread the word – in person and online, because your ideas will be voted on by the public. Each person who signs up can cast 18 votes for the project or projects that excite them most.

This year, in celebration of Canada150, Aviva has created a new category exclusively for young social entrepreneurs aged 18-25 with the chance to be awarded up to $150,000 for projects focused on climate change and the environment with broad reach and scalability in Canada. If you or someone in your organization know a rising young star with big ideas for the environment, this is an amazing opportunity we hope you will pass along.

Idea submission opens September 13^th and closes October 2^nd with voting running from October 10^th – 19^th. To learn more about the Aviva Community Fund, visit www.avivacommunityfund.org. If you’re excited to submit and want to learn more about the process and how to craft an eligible idea: Click here to download the Idea Guide. If you do submit an idea, be sure to let us know by emailing clientservices@cadeinsurance.com so we can be a Broker Supporter of your initiative!

Good luck!

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