Alliant representatives briefed the Kane County Human Services Committee on Oct. 15 about the county's upcoming property/casualty and workers' compensation renewals and the constraints of the current casualty insurance market.

Dane Moll, Alliant account executive for Kane County, said the liability marketplace has "just simply aren't a lot of carriers that are interested in underwriting the risk for public entities," adding that limited carrier competition has increased the importance of deciding adequate limits and self-insurance retentions. "Part of our discussion here today was to share that the casualty marketplace ' the liability marketplace ' is pretty difficult," Moll said.

Moll and Dan Mackie, Alliant's operations director, walked committee members through choices the county faces: how large a liability limit to buy; how much risk to retain via self-insured retention or internal service funds; and how to benchmark limits against peer counties. Moll said carriers are sensitive to large, unpredictable payouts, sometimes called "nuclear verdicts," and that those plaintiffs' awards can exceed typical municipal coverage.

Alliant flagged law-enforcement and corrections liability, fleet exposure and the county's broad service footprint as major drivers of county risk. Mackie added that law enforcement-related claims have been the most challenging line and that some exposures have a long tail, meaning they can surface years after an incident.

Alliant also urged the county to re-examine cyber insurance placement. Moll said a prior local cyber incident was contained but noted the market's terms have shifted since that event and that layered IT controls do not eliminate the need for insurance.

Committee members asked for data and comparative limits from peer counties and discussed the operational need to present renewal materials well in advance so the committee can respond quickly to time-sensitive renewals.

Next steps: Alliant will provide benchmarking data and pricing options for limits and retention levels; staff and the broker will return to the committee with renewal proposals and recommended timelines for any special board actions required to bind coverage.