Across the Upstate, bar owners say their businesses are struggling and some are even being forced to close because of South Carolina’s liquor law.
The recently passed law has had some unintended consequences.
It all goes back to a fatal drunk driving accident in South Carolina in 2014. The suspect and the bars she visited that night didn’t have insurance. SC Bill 116 responded by requiring any place that serves alcohol to have at least $1 million in coverage.
The Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium hosts Broadway shows and concerts, providing entertainment to the Hub City on a weekly basis. One thing they weren’t serving this week: alcohol.
Their liquor liability insurance dropped them, and until they find a new provider, they can’t serve alcohol.
“Our food and beverage revenue is going to go down 75 to 80 per cent,” says CEO Roger Newton. “It’s huge.”
Newton said their insurance could go from $1,200 to $100,000 a year, based on quotes they’ve received. If they don’t get the licence, they could lose big-name acts and Broadway shows. If they do get the licence, they’ll have to find other ways to cover the costs.
“We can only charge so much for a beer. Right now we’re at $13 for a 25-ounce beer, and at some point the public will only pay so much,” Newton said.
Her insurance company is one of many pulling out of South Carolina altogether.
“You can’t pay out $3 for every dollar you take in and stay in business,” said Republican state senator Ross Turner.
Turner owns an insurance company in Greenville and said this increase in coverage, along with a law about who is at fault in crashes, has forced price hikes.
“Some guy who had a wreck at 12 o’clock at night, but was in your bar from 5 to 6 and had a beer, and you did absolutely nothing wrong, but the wreck at midnight was so horrific that they come back and name you in the lawsuit and your insurance basically has to pay the million dollars,” he said.
And while bar owners like Nick Conte train their bartenders not to over-serve, they can’t always control the actions of a customer.
“Someone in the car park could be taking prescription medication before they drink. We would have no way of knowing, only if they showed effects while in our establishment would we really know,” Conte said.
Turner said this is one of his top priorities when the Senate returns in January, but a bill will have to make it through the Judiciary Committee for anything to happen.
