What a sad world we live in.

Isn't that what your homeowners insurance is for?

I put a pool in 2 years ago. I talked to my insurance company, no change needed to my policy other than double checking that I was happy with my total coverage, which i was.

If you're not going to have waivers for a pool, which is a known deathtrap, then i wouldn't see the point with anything else. Properly protected = home owner insurance.

You guys talk about some boring shit when you play pinball.

Waivers don't mean crap if someone wants to sue you. This is what homeowners insurance is for, get an additional umbrella policy if you are really worried about it.

The best advice is don't serve alcohol and if you are really concerned, don't allow alcohol at all. But then what's the point of having a pinball event?

Even if somebody signs a waiver, they can still sue you. You can't waive responsibility. Your best bet is to make sure you have liability cover as a part of your insurance.

Liability waivers are useless, they are only to make people “think” they cannot come after you. You can not waive your rights. If you are injured it’s you right to file a claim.

Your insurance should cover you in this event. It’s silly, but the norm in America is that it is someone else’s fault and your insurance will pay taking full responsibility without a court room.

A lot of people are Sue Happy, jumping at any chance. But say you have 10 of your closest friends over. Should be no worry???

my kids go to a obstacle course gym. The owner has people sign waivers. I overheard him telling someone once that they only protect him from "poor people" who don't get lawyered up. They think they can't do anything about being injured. But it doesn't stop anyone else from suing him, which he has been. So in a sense the waivers work for him as some protection.

Place cameras as a back up. ?? That way if somebody does injure themselves and they try to hype it up. And being Winter time ...

I held the MI SCS the past two years at my residence. It was in Feb 2017 and in January in 2018; so plenty of issue with snow and ice. I never really even thought about it but I guess the possibility exists. Not really much you can do if someone decides to sue for wherever reason. I guess make sure you have good insurance and hope for the best.

If I thought that I would need to have people sign a waiver at such event I would not hold the event.

You're lucky I won't be there. Old guy like me...I wouldn't be playing pinball. I'd be looking for that shitty rug to slip on.

INSURANCE.

I don't think Hilton has handicap access at his house for you

Your post presumes the fact that Hilton lives in the same world as us.

The death of common sense and accepting responsibility for our actions is truly terrifying to see unfold on a yearly basis....

I don't host pinball events but I was recommended by a good friend that is an attorney to have an umbrella policy on top of my home owners insurance. Surprisingly it's relativity inexpensive. I'm paying $180 annually for a million dollar policy.

What does that cover? Just liability in case of injury?
I host a party once a year where I serve alcohol. I've often wondered about just how "bad" it could be if something tragic happened.

My Umbrella policy with State Farm is about $360 annually, but it does reduce the liability cost on our 6 vehicles and house with State Farm. When you have kids in their 20's on your group policy, it saves them "some" change too. It doesn't save us more than it costs, but it's worth looking into in my opinion.

Assumption of risk is a state by state thing...some states recognize it and some don't. Some states (mostly states with ski resorts and ski rental shops...) have strong assumption of risk protocols.

It all depends on how bad the injury is.
Someone falling down a flight of stairs can get pretty F’Ed up. Slip and falls can be bad too. Insurance and the previously mentioned umbrella policy (it’s not too expensive) and common sense go a long way. Don’t serve alcohol to strangers.
If you allow BYO monitor strangers consumption. Some people get ALL JACKED UP at pinball events and don’t realize how much they’ve consumed.

I deal with some property management
And have seen some amazing claims over the years. One specifically comes to mind. A wedding ended at a place two blocks away from a bar/restaurant I do some work for. Some of the wedding aren’t done partying yet and head to the bar. One stumbly drunken woman misses the step up from the parking lot to the curb falls down and breaks her jaw.
Even with witnesses that saw her barely able to walk it was a two year battle.
She sued for $200,000 and noted that she wasn’t able to preform her duties as a wife as part of the lawsuit. Our lawyer said you can always tell the real scum bags cause they add that in.
Broken jaw =no oral sex for her husband.
Insurance paid for the legal bills and she ended getting $0 but it was a huge hassle.

Homeowners insurance won't cover shit. Maybe $250,000 to $500,000? You'll eat that up fast. You'll want an umbrella policy of at least a million on top of it like mentioned above. You also could consider taking out event insurance for each time you host a tournament. It was like $300 for my wedding so I can't imagine it would be really expensive for an even with less than 50 people.

Is Wierdrick playing in WI SCS? You should get plumbing insurance.

Just checked mine and it's $500,000. I also have a personal umbrella....$173 a year.

LMAO good advice!

If you are worried, personal umbrella and or a event coverage.

I should have them sign a waiver, especially the out of towners, that if they are going to fall thru the screen door, that is on them.

This reminds me the lady who hurt her foot in a pothole during the tourney (i think it was pinburhg)??

Im pretty sure that's what sparked this discussion

If you are that concerned, maybe you shouldn't hold any events.

I will not sign any paper that attempts to waive my right of recovery due to someone's negligence.

Does it cover cheese-pump related injuries?

I took my kids to a pumpkin patch with a few rides one Halloween. They had everyone signing a waiver prior to entry or they wouldn't let you in. I wrote "refused" on the signature line, the dummies didn't even notice and let us in. I've been doing that since and nobody ever notices.

They probably didn't think you were going to be an asshat.

Thanks! Proud of it too. As already stated, they don't mean shit anyways.

Happened at one of the model railroad open houses before. Where modelers open up their homes in an area for visitors to drop in. A child hurt an ankle falling down a basement stair.

Crap happens. You can't be too careful anymore.

LTG : )

Out of towners?

How about out of country-ers?!

I think a good idea to combat the issue of scammers trying to sue you later is to set up some kind of fund just in case. Like, every tournament you have everyone should throw in an extra dollar...

They might think to sue until they realized that they'd no longer be welcome at your place, they would quickly decide they are fine and move on with life.

Brad

Sadly, lots of people say that...until something happens on someone else's property that ends up costing you tens of thousands of dollars out of pocket. It may even cause you to not be able to work again.

It's not that you have anything against the people who own the property, but in a case like that, you'll sue.

What if they don't want to sign your waiver? If it's your own event, you can do as you wish. That makes sense.

If it's associated with an organization like a league or the SCS and there is nothing in the by-laws or articles that state you have the right to refuse admission unless a waiver is signed, then what?

Everytime I drop my kids off at something that requires a waiver (trampoline gym etc), I sign with a name Bart Simpson would call Moes with (or even more outlandish). On the occasions where I forget and sign my real name I’m always disappointed for a moment.

I wrote a co-pay check to my urologist to the payee of: “penis doctor”. Never know if anyone sees them or the bank just processes them through.... (maybe some CPA doing the books will see it one day?)

Them too, but they don't seem as sue happy as many we have here in the good ole US of A.

"Skate at your own risk"