Planning a Super Bowl party? Here’s the trouble with drunk friends

Super Bowl Sunday is one of the biggest party nights in America. According to the Insurance Information Institute (III), millions of Americans will drive to a friend or family member’s house to watch the Indianapolis Colts play the New Orleans Saints on Sunday.

If you’re planning to throw a Super Bowl Party, it’s important to remember that most states have “social liability” laws that hold you responsible for what happens to your drunk guest. It doesn’t matter if he lands in the hospital after tripping over a chair in your home or if he drives away drunk and causes a car crash. If you allow your friend to get drunk, you could find yourself in court.

But if you do land in court, your home insurance will come to the rescue. If a civil claim is filed against you, home insurance pays for legal representation and any damages the court awards — up to the limits of your policy. If you have assets to protect, it’s important to have adequate liability coverage. Most insurance agents recommend buying liability coverage between $300,000 and $500,000.

While it’s good to know that your home insurance will have you covered, here are some tips from III about hosting your Super Bowl Party.

• Encourage guests to pick a designated driver who will refrain from drinking alcoholic beverages.
• Be responsible yourself. Limit your own alcohol intake so that you will be able to judge if a guest has had too much to drink and should not get behind the wheel of a car.
• Have an ample amount of food on hand. Drinking on an empty stomach causes quicker ingestion of alcohol.
• Stop serving liquor at the end of the game’s third quarter and switch to coffee, tea and soft drinks.
• Keep the numbers for local cab companies handy. If guests drink too much or seem too tired to drive home, call a cab, arrange a ride with a sober guest or insist that they sleep at your home.