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Release of Liability 101

A business will be frequently required to have a 'release of liability' strategy in place if the business hopes to steer clear of being sued in court. A business can either ensure this by having sufficient commercial general liability insurance in place or implementing the use of liability waiver forms!

What Is Liability?

Criminal liability occurs when a particular individual or a corporation commits an offense against an existing criminal law. In this instance we are talking primarily about an organisation against an individual, and the importance of liability waiver forms. Quite often when an individual attends an event or place owned by said organisation, there is the danger that they obtain a personal injury to themselves whilst on the premises. It is not only personal injuries that are covered however, with one of the key release of liability form purposes being to protect the company from property damage that is suffered by an individual. To be released from criminal liability an organisation needs to provide this release of liability form if they want to avoid legal persecution. For example, a car wash may require owners of large 4WD vehicles to sign a tort liability form because the carwash was built for smaller vehicles and may damage the vehicle. The owner of the large car can of course still use the service, but is unable to sue the car wash provider if something does go wrong. In the event of personal injury - for example if the individual gets injured whilst exiting the vehicle whilst in the car wash, they are not able to sue the corporation because they have signed a waiver that the corporation is not liable for any injuries sustained on the premises of the car wash.

What Are The Penalties for Criminal Liability?

Failure to provide your organisation with releases of liability forms in reference to your customers can end with disastrous consequences. The general idea of punishment is to make the offender feel bad for the crime that they have committed - whether that is through feelings of guilt, remorse or shame. Criminal liability cases can have a serious impact on the operations of an organisation in the sense that shareholders and stakeholders are quick to lose faith in a corporation that has let them down. Penalties for breaches of criminal liability can vary from small fines to long term periods in jail for CEO's and owners. In addition, organisations which commit offenses are usually punished more severely than individuals, and it is for this reason that is absolutely essential that organisations hold a current tort liability insurance protection plan. The range of criminal offenses that are covered under these sort of insurance plans include damage to the property of others, false arrest, defamation of character, invasion of privacy, assault, malicious prosecution or of course, accidental bodily injury. Quite obviously, offenses such as violence, theft, price-fixing, etc are not covered by these insurance policies as they are more specific, and will need the administration of more detailed and specific policies to take effect.

How to Make a Release of Liability Work for Your Business

Organisations are now expected to be ethically and socially acceptable like never before. Customers, especially consumers that belong to the baby-boomer and Generation X demographics, are reluctant to put their signature on anything as they see this as a dangerous contract. It may be more effective that staff are trained to discuss a liability waiver form as an insurance policy for the individual - and try to include benefits in the form for the individual, rather than have them feel like they are signing their life away. It may be as simple as asking a customer for their 'autograph' or 'their ok' instead of a signature, because the term itself can carry negative connotations. There is such a focus on organisations doing everything right that in a competitive market, one company can simply not afford to slip up. They can avoid this by having an appropriate commercial general liability insurance policy, and ensure that they do their research into what they are protected against and what they are not protected against. This way, the company is protected against the individual who may just look to be making a few quick dollars from a corporation which is expectedly loaded with such in large quantities (generally far from the case!).

It pays to do a bit of Research...

It pays to shop around different commercial general liability insurance providers, and to employ a legal representative to put together your liability waiver forms to make sure that the words are not ambiguous and that the customer knows what they are signing. Criminal liability relates to every individual and organisation, and it is highly recommended that owners pay careful attention if they want to enjoy a release of liability when the unexpected occurs.