Well in about a week from now, the candy bowls will be out, the costumes adorned, and the sound of “trick-or-treat” will echo throughout much of the United States. Halloween is a fun night for everyone, no matter if you’re five years old or fifty years old. In fact, both my parents still get dressed up every year and sit on the porch to entertain and hand out candy to the kids that come by the house.
In any event though, Halloween is intended to be a fun and enjoyable night. However that’s not always the case, and homeowners in Connecticut need to be on their toes for possible risks and liabilities that directly result from Halloween. Now we’re not trying to be aparty-pooper, we’re just trying to give you the heads up in knowing what the risks are and how to avoid them.
In order to prepare for Halloween night, here are a few possible insurance risks that can result from mischievous behavior, human error, or something else entirely.
Candy- You’ll Attract Everyone
If you’re one of those houses known for giving out primo candy,then chances are you’ll have quite a few visitors on October 31st. With all of those trick-or-treaters coming toyour home, you should make sure that your driveway or sidewalk is clear of anytype of obstacle that could cause a visitor to trip and injure themselves. Since they’d technically be on your property,then you’d be held liable, so just make sure your walkways are astrick-or-treater- safe as possible.
Haunted Houses
For those of us who are really serious about our Halloween decorating, then this is the bullet point for you, especially if you go all out and have a haunted house. Now don’t get me wrong, these things are awesome, but make sure that there’s nothing in the house that could injure someone. You really have to think outside the box on this one too. For instance, if there’s a low ceiling in one part of your haunted house, make sure that a visitor won’t hit their head on it if they jump with freight from one of your spooky displays. These are the things to consider!
Vandals abound on this spooky night!
So as many of us know, one of the big drawbacks to Halloween is that it’s an unofficial night for teenagers everywhere to wreak havoc. Egging is perhaps the most popular form of vandalism on Halloween, but the classic toilet paper on the house and trees usually happens as well. Furthermore, it seems as though it’s a free-for-all for people to steal decorations as well. Now all of this stuff ruins the fun out of the night, and we wish it wouldn’t happen, but they always do. So make sure that if the decorations you’ve invested a lot of time and money into are stolen to see if they’re covered on your Connecticut homeowners insurance. Now obviously you wouldn’t want to do this for decorations that only cost $20, but if you went all out for Halloween and dropped a ton of money on decorations, then your claim could be legitimate. You’d have to file a police report and go through the whole process however, so weigh your options.
So hopefully these few insurance tips will have you fully prepared for the big night next week. We hope everyone has an enjoyable and safe Halloween night. Remember, we have to make up for last year’s missed opportunity because of Hurricane Sandy! Can you believe it’s already been a year ago?