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Commissioners authorize insurance changes aimed at lower premiums, higher deductibles
Summary
The board approved insurance changes recommended by broker USI, increasing certain deductibles and adopting a county risk-management platform to pursue long-term premium reductions.
County insurers and the board’s broker, USI Insurance Services, presented options Monday and the commissioners authorized a change in deductibles intended to lower premium costs while increasing county retention.
USI representative Brent Webster recommended raising the county property deductible from $10,000 to $50,000 and increasing the commercial auto liability deductible from $2,500 to $25,000, citing historical claims data and estimated premium savings. Webster said the change on property alone would reduce the premium by roughly $29,000 and the auto-liability change would reduce premiums by about $86,006.27 based on recent claims history.
Webster also described a higher-retention option (a $100,000 across-the-board retention with an alternative carrier) that produced larger premium savings on paper but would require hiring a third-party claims administrator and adding aggregate stop-loss protection; he advised the board that those administrative costs and loss exposure would offset much of the apparent savings.
The board agreed to the recommendation to remain with Travelers while increasing the property deductible to $50,000 and the auto liability deductible to $25,000. Commissioners also directed staff to implement the insurer’s risk-management platform (described in the meeting as the “risk management center”) and schedule regular claims reviews to reduce the county’s loss ratio.
Commissioners discussed billing cadence to ease cash-flow impacts and directed staff to arrange semi-annual or other installment billing as feasible.
"If we manage our claims properly for the next year, we'll have some leverage to try to reduce our premiums," Webster said, summarizing the rationale for taking more retention paired with better internal risk controls.
The vote authorized the deductible changes and the use of the risk-management tools presented by USI. The board instructed staff to work with the broker and carrier on contract language and billing arrangements.
