Insurance Renewal
Last night the city council held a sobering workshop with representatives of our insurance brokers, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services, Inc. They informed us that the League of Minnesota Cities Insurance Trust board would be deciding at a meeting today whether or not to renew our city's insurance policy, and if so under what terms. They communicated the LMCIT's serious concerns about the litigation risk posed by Maplewood, particularly in light of the net losses from the 7/1/06-7/1/07 insurance period. Those losses substantially exceed the total of the previous twenty years' losses combined.
We were told that, were it not for recent developments in Maplewood (such as "positive changes, staffing-wise," an apparent reference to the removal of Mr. Copeland), our coverage with the LMCIT would have been cancelled. As it stands the LMCIT is willing to continue, but with higher premiums and higher deductibles. The deductible for employment lawsuits, for example, seems likely to rise from $50,000 per incident to $200,000 per incident.
Our brokers asked if some individual councilmembers could write to the LMCIT board to make it clear that their message had been received. I volunteered to write a letter last night (here it is as a PDF) that could be delivered to the board in advance of their meeting today, as did Mayor Longrie. I welcomed the chance to acknowledge the gravity and legitimacy of the LMCIT's concerns, call attention to corrective steps already taken, and make clear that the council as a body and the city staff share the goal of working closely with the League to continue to reduce claims in the future.
We were told that, were it not for recent developments in Maplewood (such as "positive changes, staffing-wise," an apparent reference to the removal of Mr. Copeland), our coverage with the LMCIT would have been cancelled. As it stands the LMCIT is willing to continue, but with higher premiums and higher deductibles. The deductible for employment lawsuits, for example, seems likely to rise from $50,000 per incident to $200,000 per incident.
Our brokers asked if some individual councilmembers could write to the LMCIT board to make it clear that their message had been received. I volunteered to write a letter last night (here it is as a PDF) that could be delivered to the board in advance of their meeting today, as did Mayor Longrie. I welcomed the chance to acknowledge the gravity and legitimacy of the LMCIT's concerns, call attention to corrective steps already taken, and make clear that the council as a body and the city staff share the goal of working closely with the League to continue to reduce claims in the future.
Labels: finance
Well done, John. Thank you.
Posted by
Kevin |
4/08/2008 05:00:00 PM
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