Time To Check My Insurance Policy

This morning I went to a talk about teenagers, alcohol and the law. It was eye opening and scary all at the same time. There was a lot of information I knew, but was not necessarily acting on. For instance, I knew that if I served someone alcohol, regardless of their age, and they drove away from my house and killed someone that I could be sued for damages. I will be having a conversation with my insurance agent about exactly what we are covered for. The lawyers today said that you Social Host Liability coverage should be two times our net worth. That was sobering.

After the talk I went on to another meeting where I was with women who had younger children and were not yet facing this issue. As we talked about the liability issue everyone shared stories about their own early years with alcohol and the stupid choices they made. My family lived in a big house that had three kitchens. The upstairs kitchen was more or less just the beer room. My friends loved to come and hang out at my house since there was always a well stocked and unmanned drinks room. No one ever missed what we drank when my parents were not around.

Another friend told me about her fake ID, which she said never got her into one bar in her life. No wonder since it just said “West Virginia ID” on it with a photo of her standing in front of an oak tree. It did not dawn on her that the DMV did not take outdoor photos.

According to the police at the meeting today the world of fake ID’s has gotten very serious due to 9/11 and the rise in identity theft. Now it is called fraudulent Identity and it is a federal offense that can stay on your record forever, preventing a child from getting into college or getting a job. No employer hires anyone charged with fraud.

I stopped drinking years ago due to one very bad night of drinking. I am glad I learned that lesson young, but I still serve alcohol to guests and realize that the access to it is unmanned, just like my parents’.

After the talk I went to Home Depot and bought a key locking doorknob set that Russ is going to install on my storage area and I am going to gather up all the alcohol in the house and keep it there under lock and key. I figure it is just better to remove easy access for anyone who is at my house. It also goes one step closer to protecting me liability wise, as long as I don’t tell anyone where the key is.

The best part about this plan is that I am going to be getting a whole cabinet in my kitchen to use for the cooking stuff I actually use all the time by moving the liquor to a different place. I already think that my vinegar collection will go perfectly in the wine storage area in the kitchen. This is going to be great.