Commercial · coverage line
Liquor liability.
Often called "dram shop." Covers claims that you over-served someone who then caused harm. Typically excluded from GL — even if your GL says it covers liquor, read carefully.
What it is.
Often called dram shop. GL excludes liquor liability for businesses in the liquor business — even if your GL says it covers liquor, read carefully. State dram-shop laws vary widely; Missouri is stricter than Kansas. Required by most state alcohol-control commissions and by most landlords leasing to a bar or restaurant. Skipping it is uninsurable risk.
The lines in your policy.
Each one is its own knob. The carrier's default rarely fits a real life.
What a claim looks like.
Three anonymized files. Numbers are illustrative.
Bar serves a patron well past visible intoxication. Patron leaves, causes a multi-car accident with serious injury. Liquor liability pays $480K toward the medical/wrongful-death settlement plus defense. Without coverage, the bar's GL would have explicitly excluded this — uninsured exposure.
Two patrons fight at closing time; one is hospitalized. A&B endorsement (added at placement) pays defense + settlement totaling $94K. Without the A&B endorsement, the claim would have been excluded entirely.
Missouri's dram-shop statute imposes liability for service to visibly intoxicated patrons. Restaurant served patron showing clear signs; patron later injured a third party. Plaintiff prevails at trial. Liquor liability pays the judgment + defense.
How to read a liquor policy.
The four things worth looking for on the dec page, in the order we read them.
The first page tells you who's actually covered, on what address, and under whose legal entity. A surprising number of policies have the wrong name, the wrong address, or a missing additional insured, and you don't find out until you file a claim. Cross-check it against your driver's license, your title or lease, and any contract that requires you to be insured.
Policy limits are abstract until you stack them against the assets they protect. A $300k liability limit feels generous in isolation; against a $1.2M home and a college fund, it isn't. Walk down each numbered line on your dec page and ask: if this were the cap on the worst day, would I be okay?
Page one shows you the base form. Pages four through twelve show you what the endorsements added, and, more importantly, what they took away. Water-damage exclusions, roof-payment schedules, named-storm deductibles, scheduled-valuables caps. These small numbered forms decide more claims than the headline limits do.
Carriers re-rate, re-form, and re-endorse policies at every renewal. If you keep last year's dec page, a side-by-side read takes ten minutes and tells you which limits drifted, which sublimits got cut, and which endorsements quietly disappeared. It's the single most useful habit in personal insurance.
Frequently asked questions.
Doesn't my GL cover liquor?
Almost never for businesses in the liquor business. The GL liquor exclusion (CG 21 50 or similar) applies to anyone manufacturing, distributing, selling, serving, or furnishing alcohol. Even GLs that 'cover liquor' usually have hidden exclusions — read the form carefully.
How does Missouri dram shop differ from Kansas?
Missouri has a strict-liability dram-shop statute — if a patron was visibly intoxicated and you served them, you're liable. Kansas requires more proof of negligence. Limits should reflect the state's exposure.
Is host-liquor liability the same?
No. Host liquor (covered on most homeowners and GL policies) is for non-commercial settings — your office party, a wedding you host. Once you're in the liquor business, you need real liquor liability.
What about assault & battery?
A&B coverage is usually a sublimit endorsement, not main coverage. Bar fights are common claim triggers; we add A&B by default unless the venue type makes it implausible.
Want a second read on your liquor policy?
Send us your declarations page. You'll get it back marked up, in plain language, with the gaps and the over-coverage flagged, yours to keep, no obligation to switch.
or phone (913) 408-7280
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