A fundraising event was being held in town. The organizers rented the necessary items from the rental store they regularly did business with and scheduled the delivery date for the following month.

The rental store provided tents, tables and chairs for the event. Their customer also rented tablecloths, napkins and centerpieces. She was an event coordinator hired by the venue to decorate.

On the date of the event the rental store employees dropped off all the items for the event coordinator and her assistants to set up.  As was their practice, the rental store employees had the event coordinator sign the delivery slip and went on their way.

A few weeks later the rental store owner received suit paperwork. An event attendee had tripped over a tablecloth as she got up to go to the buffet for her meal. The suit alleged the tablecloth was “unreasonably draped” causing her to lose her balance and fall.

The rental agreement spelled out exactly what the event coordinator had rented and her expectations. The rental store employees were not responsible for set up, only delivery.

The incident will be investigated and denied or settled based upon the wording in the rental contract and the verbiage in their insurance policy. The rental store personnel had all the paperwork in order and were able to provide that to the adjuster assigned to investigate their claim.

This item, provided by ARA Insurance, Overland Park, Kan., contains safety tips and is intended to help readers better understand and manage risk. For more safety and risk management information, customers of ARA Insurance can log on to ReSource. Access is free, so if you haven’t signed up yet, contact your agent or call 800-821-6580.