Jefferson County approves $881,586 insurance renewal amid rising deductibles and coverage shifts

Jefferson County Commissioners on March 20 approved the county'025 property and liability insurance package with a total premium of $881,586.38 after an extended presentation on rising deductibles and newly excluded coverage.

The county ccepted the renewal after Rick, the meeting—ontracted insurance presenter, outlined multiple changes to the policies and options to limit the county's exposure. The package approved at the meeting retains core limits but raises several deductibles and requires additional excess layers to replace coverage removed from the umbrella.

The changes matter because the county—uildings and high-value facilities face much larger out-of-pocket costs under the new terms. "On a jail at $46,000,000, you're gonna have a $460,000 deductible," Rick said, illustrating the scale of possible losses under the insurer's new 1% wind/hail deductible structure. He told commissioners wind, storm and hail coverage now carries a 1% deductible with a $100,000 minimum; other property deductibles were increased to $10,000. Law enforcement liability deductibles rose from $25,000 to $50,000, and employment-related practices liability (EPLI) deductibles increased in the renewal.

Rick also said the umbrella policy no longer includes law enforcement liability or EPLI, and that the county sought separate excess layers to replace that protection. He presented a buy-down option to reduce the wind/hail deductible to a lower per-occurrence figure; the presenter described the buy-down but the transcript record does not provide a clear, unambiguous premium amount for that option.

Commissioner 2 moved to accept the property and liability policies "as presented with a total premium of $881,586.38," and Commissioner 1 seconded. The motion passed on a voice vote; all present voted aye.

Commissioners discussed funding the new excess premiums and deductibles. Rick recommended allocating some of the added cost to the county's public safety funding (he referred to it in the record as the "public safety lift"), arguing that the new jail-related liability costs are a primary driver of the premium increase. Commissioners asked for and were told that staff could provide a later breakdown of per-building valuations and premiums to permit splitting costs across departments.

The change in market availability and higher retentions reflect broader trends Rick described, including carriers pulling back from insuring jails and raising deductibles after recent claims. He told the board that while some markets have become unavailable for certain exposures, the county was able to secure coverage and proposed excess layers to approximate prior protection.

The board approved the renewal and signatures were collected for required applications and the cyber application noted in the packet. The commissioners directed staff to return with a cost breakdown by building and department to clarify which funds should pay new excess premiums and higher deductibles.

The insurance presentation and vote occupied a significant portion of the meeting and covered options the county will need to finalize before the April 1 renewal date.