Bounce houses/bouncy castles are common at fairs, festivals, children’s parties, and other summer events. When renting or going to a location with a bounce house, waivers are sometimes used so the companies that rent out these bounce houses can keep themselves from being sued, but can they actually enforce these waivers?
First, the waivers used with bounce houses are often not effective because the individual using the bounce house (or their parent) might not actually be the one to sign in the first place. Additionally, even when you do sign a waiver for a bounce house, it might not be enforceable if its language is unclear.
For help with your potential injury case, call the personal injury lawyers at The Reiff Law Firm today at (215) 709-6940.
Do Bounce Houses Use Waivers?
Many fun activities and rides and the like use waivers so that the company putting on the event or operating the ride can keep themselves from being sued. These waivers are generally allowed, given that adults have the right to write and follow contracts they agree to. However, when it comes to the way bounce houses are usually rented and set up, the waivers involved in these cases might not apply the way you would expect them to, potentially making them unenforceable.
Waivers to Participate
Waivers are generally allowed for rides, toys, games, activities, and other non-essential things. A waiver cannot typically be enforced for something like access to public transit, as the courts usually want to keep access to public facilities free and open. However, waivers are typically allowed and enforced for things like extreme sports, festival rides, and play activities like a bounce house. However, waivers are not always required before letting someone jump in a bounce house in the first place.
Bounce houses are sometimes permanently set up at venues for children’s activities – such as summer camps or playgrounds. These places might have general liability waivers that cover using their facilities. In these cases, the waiver might apply to the bounce house.
Otherwise, bouncy castles are commonly rented for children’s parties and set up in someone’s backyard or at a local festival or other place where no one is signing waivers for each child who enters the bounce house. If there is no waiver, there is no question of enforceability; the victim of a serious problem with the ride’s safety or a problem with adult supervision has no waiver to overcome. Usually, these bounce houses are monitored by the property owner or by a worker from the rental company who might face liability if they allowed an accident to happen.
In the case that a waiver is in place, it might be gotten around by various methods discussed below.
Waivers to Rent
The more common way that waivers arise in the context of a bounce house is when the person renting a bounce house for a party has to sign a waiver to rent it. This waiver will usually include two parts: a release against the rental company and an indemnification for third-party claims.
The first part releases the rental company from liability for injuries to the renter or their children. In a typical waiver agreement for a bouncy castle rental, you will agree not to sue the rental company if you or your child gets hurt, but these waivers are potentially unenforceable in the ways we will discuss below.
The potentially more serious issue is that the waiver will also likely include a requirement that you will be responsible for any injuries instead of the rental company. This essentially shifts the burden of safety concerns and lawsuits from the rental company to the property owner, making them responsible if anyone is injured while jumping in the bounce house. They may have insurance that can cover these injuries and accidents – such as homeowners insurance for a bounce house set up at a home or business liability insurance for a bounce house set up at a company picnic or similar event.
The important thing to consider is that the person renting the bounce house usually does not have the right to sign away other people’s rights to sue. This means that guests at a party have not given up any right to sue simply because the renter has. This could potentially allow them to still sue the bounce house rental company, although the contract between the renter and the rental company might require the renter to step in and defend the rental company and put themselves as the defendant in that case instead.
Getting Around Waivers for Injury from a Bouncy Castle
As with waivers in many other contexts, the terms of the waiver need to be clear and obvious in order to create an enforceable waiver. Many waivers are not truly contracts, as there is no true meeting of the minds that allows the waiver to be enforced.
The first issue is that the party waiving liability has to actually sign something. A mere sign posted on the bounce house might not be enough to create a valid waiver.
Second, the language in the waiver needs to be clear enough that the person understands what they are signing away. Waivers tend to use the same kind of language: release of liability, indemnification, hold harmless, release, etc. Missing this key language might make the waiver unclear.
Lastly, the document needs to be clear that there is a waiver involved. Having a clear title at the top of the document declaring it to be a waiver is one way to do this. Waivers hidden inside a rental agreement and waivers that do not require a separate signature are not obvious and might not be enforceable.
There are also other additional considerations based on state law concerning what is and is not enforceable, such as whether you can sign away the right to sue for a child’s death or whether you can sign away the right to sue in cases of gross negligence or recklessness.
Contact Our Personal Injury Attorneys Today
If you were hurt, call (215) 709-6940 for a free case assessment with the Philadelphia personal injury attorneys at The Reiff Law Firm.
