If your business involves anything that can potentially be risky for your customers, it’s crucial to have a strong, enforceable liability waiver. These are common – and necessary – for gyms and other businesses that provide fitness activities and games that involve physical activity and/or equipment (like paintball or ax throwing).
Businesses where customers pay in part to be frightened, like haunted houses and escape rooms, need to protect themselves, too. Sudden scares can lead to falls and potentially even cardiac events. Of course, bicycle and scooter rental businesses need liability waivers because the odds of someone suffering an injury can be high.
These are just a few examples of businesses where customers assume some risk of injury just by participating – but particularly if they don’t follow instructions or they do something reckless. Business owners can’t be expected to pay their medical bills and other damages unless the business or one of their employees was negligent in their responsibilities to provide as safe an experience as possible.
There’s no one-size-fits-all liability waiver template – at least not a good one. A liability waiver should be unique to the business, and it needs to be legally sound to be enforceable.
What is required for enforceability?
To be enforceable, a liability waiver needs to meet some basic requirements to help ensure that everyone who signs it or checks a box agreeing to it in a digital format can read and understand it. For example, it should be:
- In understandable language (as opposed to legal jargon)
- In a print size and font that’s readable
- Short enough that people have the time to read it
Customers shouldn’t be rushed through reading and signing the waiver by employees if it’s presented to them at the front counter when they purchase a ticket. It should also be separate from any other documents a customer might have to read and/or sign, including the ticket itself.
Further, a waiver shouldn’t be so vague about the potential risks that a person could argue they had no idea what they were in for. Of course, in some instances (like a haunted “adventure” or murder mystery event), a business doesn’t want to give away any surprises.
The best way to help ensure that your business has a strong, enforceable liability waiver that protects you from frivolous lawsuits is to have experienced legal guidance when crafting it. This can save you a lot of time, money and stress later.