This is a tough post to write. I’ve been struggling for the last couple days on how to approach this topic without: 1. Sounding insurance – salesy and 2. without letting my personal feelings cloud the post.
Last week, a 23-year old man, Craig Snow, was ordered to pay $2 million dollars in damages to the parents of a teenager killed in a drunken driving crash 4 years ago. The young woman and her boyfriend, both 19 at the time of the accident, went to a party where they proceeded to drink. They then left in the mans vehicle, with him driving. He proceeded to drive through 2 stops signs and roll his SUV – killing his girlfriend.
So I’ll tell you, that I feel pretty strongly that personal responsibility should factor in here. On all fronts – from the homeowner, the driver and also this young woman. It’s a tragic case all around, but do the parents of that girl deserve $2 million dollars when she had the ability to NOT get in the car with him? Mr. Snow is now in a position where the rest of his life, he will basically work to pay that judgement (or worse, not work and never pay it?) I just am not sure what happens in these situations.
So here’s where my insurance – salesy piece comes in. Do you ever host a party at your home? I know I do and there is, in many, cases alcohol there. That’s why I also have an Umbrella Insurance policy … specifically for these types of cases.
No, I can’t imagine one of my friends ever suing me or ever being in the situation that the Social Host law would come into affect. But that doesn’t mean that it’s out of the question. I hope I never, ever need to use my Umbrella Insurance, but I’m sure glad it’s there in case I need it.
Let us know if you want to learn more about Umbrella Insurance. Asset protection is important.
