Halloween Liability Issues: Pranks That Insurance Won’t Cover

Munich.

Halloween pranks often lead to weird liability claims – insurance doesn’t always cover the situation if the fun gets out of hand.

Halloween has been celebrated in the US for a long time. In the 1990s, the wave of terror gradually spread to Germany and at least since the beginning of the millennium, the motto here on October 31 is: “Trick or Treat”, in German: “Trick or Treat” . Anyone who doesn’t come forward with sweets will be immediately dismissed – and often in the form of a prank. Long-established Halloween tricks include throwing rotten eggs at houses and cars, smearing garage doors and walls, and damaging mailboxes. In addition, the “trick or treaters” always come up with new, often absurd, silly things. It’s no surprise that there are a lot of weird liability cases, especially on Halloween.

When a prank turns into a disaster

Liability damages occur when someone accidentally damages or injures another person’s property, causing a financial loss for which the responsible person is responsible. Private liability insurance does not cover intentional damage. If you are walking on a poorly lit street in a scary outfit and an oncoming cyclist is afraid that he will fall and hurt himself, this is the damage that did the private liability insurance covered.

But what does it look like, for example, if you enter a cafe after a crazy Halloween party dressed as an armed bank robber, are you mistaken for a real thief and not only cause panic but also police work? Or if, as happened on Halloween night 2022 in Rheinhessen, young people exchange a series of location signs or make them disappear for a short time? And what happens if someone has to be rescued from a packing station by the fire brigade as part of a prank, as was the case recently in Neuss? With such strange things Halloween liability issues It is difficult for laypersons to understand whether liability insurance applies or not. Misunderstandings are often inevitable.

Weird liability cases from abroad

In many countries, but especially in the US, there are always strange liability issues on Halloween. For example, this case from 2006: A 15-year-old man from Pennsylvania made a Halloween joke by throwing eggs at the substation of the local electric company. The combination of a pig’s egg and heavy rain resulted in an explosion that the boy could not have predicted, resulting in a power outage for approximately 8,000 people in the area. A UK dad also caused a stir when he forgot to remove the Halloween decoration – a plastic arm and leg – from the back door of his work van. Someone called the police, who took this “abduction” with good humor. A similar case occurred in North Carolina a few years ago. Here, as part of the Halloween decorations, a very real costumed bauble was draped over the gutter of a two-story house. A neighbor who was walking by called the fire department, believing that a real person was hanging from the gutter. It was only after the rescuers started the rescue operation that the family realized what had happened.

Happy Halloween: This way the horror lasts without any ill effects

Celebrating Halloween is a lot of fun and to keep it that way, it is important to make clear the possible consequences of Halloween pranks, especially for children and young people. One Infographic with concrete examples from the federationhelp make it clear to you and the children what jokes are okay and what aren’t. Vandalism and intentional damage to property or even personal injury is not tolerated – not on Halloween. Planning your Halloween tricks wisely and being considerate of your fellow humans usually prevents the worst. And for accidents or damage caused by negligence, there is insurance to support if the worst comes to the worst.

Press contact: euromarcom public relations GmbH, Mühlhohe 2, 65205 Wiesbaden, Germany, email: [email protected], web: www.euromarcom.de

Additional material: www.presseportal.de Quelle: euromarcom GmbH public relations