How Do I Determine Where and to Whom to Send the Connecticut Dram Shop Notice for an Action Against the Seller of Alcohol for Injury or Death Caused by a Drunk or Intoxicated Driver?

First, you want to determine the identity of the permittee for the liquor license. Do this by going to the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection website for license verification. The website address is:

http://www.dcpaccess.state.ct.us/dcppublic/licenseLookup.asp.

For “Category” select “Liquor Control Division.” Then select the appropriate “Credential Type.” For example, if the Liquor Seller is a bar, you would probably enter “Cafe Liquor.” Then enter the name of the bar in “Business Name.” If you enter the exact name of the bar and do not get any hits, try entering just the first few letters of the name. The person listed under “Name” is the permittee for that liquor establishment and is the person to whom you should send the notice. That permittee would then be responsible for passing the notice on to the Owner, also known as the Backer. Note: you may have to enter the business name under different “Credential Types” until you get a hit. (The website’s database needs to be redesigned so that you could search for all Credential Types at the same time.)

If you have trouble finding the permittee’s name online, you can call the Connecticut Liquor Control Division and speak with a Connecticut Liquor Control Agent. They are usually very helpful and willing to give you the name and address of the permittee so that you can give the Dram Shop Notice to the Seller of the alcohol. The phone number in Hartford, Connecticut is 860-713-6200.

If you have trouble getting the actual name of the Connecticut bar, tavern, cafe, restaurant etc. you could always just call the liquor esbalishment and ask for its credential type and the name and address of the permittee. They should give it to you because if they don’t you can make a complaint with the Connecticut Liquor Control Division. Do not rely on this information however for your Connecticut Dram Shop notice without verifying that it is accurate: run this information through the ConnecticutLiquor Control Division website as indicated above.

Finally, as a last resort, your can always send a private investigator to the Connecticut liquor establishment and have him or her get the necessary information by looking at the actual Connecticut liquor license that should be on display in the bar. If it is not on display, have the investigator ask to see it.


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