Q: For a reunion event planning business, should we have customers sign liability waivers? Is a click-through good enough?
Our customers are classmates who volunteer to be a reunion planner. These planners select dates and activities, and then we sell event tickets to the classmates. A lot of the venues require a signature to accept liability.
1) Should my business sign that document and then have our customers sign liability waivers?
2) Should we have each ticket purchaser sign, or is it enough for the volunteer planner to sign?
3) Is a click-through enough protection, or should we use an e-sign service?
A:
Hi,
Sounds like a great business. Yes, I think that if you are taking on the liability, then you will want to make sure that you are passing the liability on to the actual participants of those events.
Ideally your participants would take on the liability directly from the venue, but that is impractical for your purposes. Neither you nor the venue will want to make sure that every participant has signed the venue's liability form.
I would have the liability clause a click through, but also have a place where they have to put their name in there as the person signing. They don't have to "sign" on a pad, just typing their name should be sufficient with a check box. You will need to have the correct language in the liability section of course, but I wouldn't think that it would need to be pages and pages long maybe even just a few paragraphs.
I think that the volunteer planner would appreciate it if you would have the ticket purchasers accept their own liability and if it doesn't take too much to put it in there, I would do it that way based on a customer benefit. If I were a volunteer and I had to take on all the liability, I am not sure that I would be willing to do it. Additionally, if a participant were injured, you would want direct privity of contract between you and the injured rather than trying to seek reimbursement from the volunteer after the fact.
I hope this helps.
Wes
2 users found this answer helpful
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