Vermont does not license bartenders, so a Vermont wedding hires a caterer.

There is no licensed bartender to hire, because Vermont does not license bartenders. The Division of Liquor Control's answer to that exact question is to hire a licensed caterer, and it publishes the list. So the alcohol license at a Vermont wedding belongs to the caterer, and your event policy covers the host side. Vermont's dram shop law is wider than most, reaching service to someone who could be expected to become intoxicated, so the host liquor line matters more here than it does in a neighboring state.

No, and the contract says so. The venue's policy protects the venue, and a Vermont venue agreement usually asks for two things from you: your own general liability limit, and the venue named as an additional insured on it. The second clause moves the venue's exposure at your event onto your policy. A guest hurt on the dance floor, a damaged wall or a claim over a drunk guest is presented to your certificate first, and the venue's insurer expects to find it there.

Yes, in principle. Vermont's Dram Shop Act reaches service to a minor, to an apparently intoxicated person, after legal closing time, or to someone it would be reasonable to expect would become intoxicated from the amount served, and that last limb is unusually wide. The claim runs first at whoever held the license and poured, and a host who supplied the alcohol or ran the bar can be joined, which is what the host liquor line on an event policy exists to answer.

Vermont liquor liability insurance

Only for the caterer. In Vermont the permit for a wedding bar belongs to a business that already holds a license, and that business's liquor policy answers claims made against it, not claims made against you. If a guest sues the host, or the venue looks to the host under its contract, the caterer's insurer has no reason to respond. Ask the caterer for a certificate anyway, because a caterer without liquor coverage is a caterer whose claims land on the nearest solvent party, which at a wedding is the couple.

Yes, and most events do. Single-event coverage is written for the dates of the event, usually including set-up and tear-down, and it is issued quickly enough to satisfy a venue asking on short notice. If you run more than three or four events a year, an annual policy is generally cheaper and means the certificate exists before it is asked for.

Almost always three things, and only the first is a number: a limit, usually one or two million per occurrence; their entity named as additional insured by endorsement rather than typed on the certificate; and often a waiver of subrogation. Send us the contract rather than the number: the wording is what gets certificates rejected, and it is the part people summarize.

No, and they are constantly confused. Event liability pays when somebody else is injured or their property is damaged. Cancellation coverage pays YOU back for money you have already committed when the event cannot happen. Venues require the first; the second is the one that saves your own budget, and most organizers buy only the one they were asked for.

What cancellation coverage pays for

Host liquor is commonly included where you are not in the business of selling it: a wedding with a hosted bar, a company party. The moment there is a cash bar, a license, or alcohol as a revenue line, it is liquor liability proper and it is a separate coverage that the base form excludes by name.

When host liquor stops being enough