Heath Hockenberry, broker with Jester Insurance, told the City Council that the city's July 1, 2025 property and casualty renewal shows overall modest cost improvements but some market pressure on excess liability limits and retentions.

Hockenberry said the city's total insured property value is about $454,000,000 but the proposed primary property limit is $250,000,000. He said an analysis that ran a 1.5-mile tornado path over insured locations found about $211,000,000 of value in that worst-case corridor, and on that basis the broker was comfortable keeping the $250,000,000 limit.

He said, “We're very comfortable to continue with that $250,000,000 coverage limit, even though you have $454,000,000 of total values.”

Why it matters

Council finances are sensitive to large catastrophic losses and to rising liability costs; Hockenberry framed the renewal as more favorable than the conservative budget the city set in January while noting market volatility in excess liability.

Key details and recommendations

- Property: Hockenberry said the property premium in the renewal is down about 6% compared with the current year and that marketplace capacity has improved. He emphasized the unusual retention of a $100,000 per-occurrence wind/hail deductible, which he called rare in today's market and warned could increase after a significant wind or hail event.

- Excess liability: The city currently carries $20,000,000 total liability with $10,000,000 per claim; the incumbent carrier (States) has proposed reducing the aggregate to $10,000,000, which would effectively cut total available coverage. Hockenberry advised that Obsidian Specialty offered a competitive quote that would preserve the $20,000,000 aggregate, would include unmanned‑aircraft (drone) coverage not currently in place, and would not impose a co‑payment for claims beyond the self‑insured retention.

Hockenberry said, “Probably the best thing that I like that Obsidian is offering there is a two‑year rate lock.” He explained that a two‑year lock helps budgeting if market rates do not fall further, but that a lock could limit the city's ability to capture future lower market pricing.

- Workers' compensation: Midwest Employers and other carriers are offering two‑year rate locks for workers' comp; the broker recommended considering a two‑year lock as a budgeting tool.

- Self‑insured retentions: Staff and the broker recommended increasing the self‑insured retention for the Chapter 4.11 employee class from $750,000 to $1,000,000 based on loss history and the carrier's premium incentive; Midwest Employers' quote reflected about $25,000 savings for that change.

- Cyber/social‑engineering: The proposal includes raising the social‑engineering limit from $100,000 to $250,000 to address fraudulent electronic payment scams; Hockenberry noted an additional $100,000 is available under the city's cyber policy.

- Market pressure: Hockenberry described broader industry pressure that is making single carriers less willing to provide large excess limits, which often forces brokers to assemble limits from multiple carriers and raises premium costs.

Outcome and next steps

Hockenberry said negotiations were ongoing and that the figures presented represented worst‑case pricing pending final negotiations before the July 1 renewal date. He recommended staff pursue the Obsidian option while finalizing terms and said the broker would update staff when negotiations concluded.

Ending

Council members asked questions during the briefing; Hockenberry closed by thanking city staff for cooperation and said he would return with updates to the negotiated premium and final terms.