Changes to liquor liability insurance take effect in January, 'Woody On Main' owners say it's too late
- SCCLR Newsletter
- Sep 22
- 3 min read
By: Josie Frost
Lawmakers passed a new law earlier this year aimed at reducing the price bars and restaurants that serve alcohol pay for liability insurance.
COLUMBIA, S.C. — "The Woody on Main,' a longtime Columbia staple, will close its doors after Halloween, citing rising insurance prices. They say a new law aimed at reducing the amount these bars pay in liability insurance won't be enough to save them.
The bar and dance club was named after legendary radio host Woody Windham, who passed away last year. The original location was in the Vista, and his daughters relocated the spot to the downtown Columbia location in February 2020, just before the pandemic shut down any in-person nightlife. Now, they are giving up their multi-story Main Street space and hoping to find a new venue to open a restaurant with the 'Woody' name.
“We don’t want to be done, we don’t want to give up on our father’s legacy,” Jennifer Windham said. Rising liquor liability insurance costs have made that impossible, she said.
“We’ve watched it go from $10,000 a year to $56,000 a year. And it’s debilitating to a business for one insurance to be that much of a need,” Windham said.
The new restaurant would focus more on food, in order to comply with one of the provisions of the new liquor liability law, which goes into effect in January.
Under a previous 2017 law, bars and restaurants serving alcohol past 5 p.m. must carry a $1 million liability policy to cover damages in civil lawsuits. The new law allows businesses to reduce that requirement to if they take certain steps to lower risks, like stopping alcohol service at midnight or mandating alcohol server training.
If a bar can keep alcohol sales below 40% of their total sales, while food and other sales account for the rest, it can get a $100,000 reduction to the policy requirement. But that's a lot easier said than done, Windham says.
"We started doing lunch, trying to increase revenue on food, but, unfortunately, you can't make people eat," says Windham. "When everything started going up and we needed to make cuts, that was one of the first things we had to cut out."
Robert Hartwig, a professor at the University of South Carolina’s Darla Moore School of Business, said the law could eventually provide some relief, but it will take time.
“I think there will be some meaningful savings for establishments that serve liquor throughout the state of South Carolina, but it will take some time, perhaps a year or more, before we have a full understanding of how much this law is impacting liquor liability costs in the state of South Carolina,” Hartwig said.
But Windham said many insurance companies have already stopped covering South Carolina bars, leaving few options.
“In 2017 we had 56 carriers when they attached it to our license. Now there’s two or three. I mean, they have a monopoly. They can choose whatever they want to,” she said.
It's not clear if and when those carriers might come back and start writing policies in South Carolina, Hartwig says.
"There are many insurers that specialize in all kinds of very high risk businesses, including bars and restaurants all over the country. So I'm hopeful that will, that will induce that the changes in the law will induce some insurers to come back," Hartwig says.
The Woody’s owners say they hope to find a new location soon to open a restaurant and continue the Woody name. They are asking all Woody patrons for a strong turnout in the last few weeks before they close on Halloween, to help raise revenue for the move. They said their new restaurant will allow dancing.
Woody on Main, Facebook
