Insurance committee reviews 2025–26 property and casualty renewal, directs staff to issue RFQ for brokerage services

The Lafayette Parish School System Board Insurance and Finance Committee reviewed projected renewals for property and casualty insurance for the 2025–26 fiscal year and voted to direct staff to prepare a request for qualifications for brokerage services.

Committee members were shown line-by-line renewal quotes and a summary of recent changes to policy limits and deductibles, and were told those adjustments, together with a softer property market, produced a net year‑over‑year premium reduction compared with last year’s tentative budget projection.

Why it matters: The committee supervises the system’s insurance buying strategy and contract oversight. Changes in broker arrangements or in policy structure affect how claims and premiums are negotiated and how those costs appear in the district budget.

Committee discussion focused on the drivers of last year’s increase and the components of this year’s renewal. The presentation identified an approximate 10.39% increase in property rate bases in one schedule line; student-accident coverage showed a roughly 14.3% increase; overall casualty lines were reported up about 9%; and an aggregate line on the presenter’s worksheet showed an overall change of about −2.35% after combining lines and adjustments. Staff said the district previously increased its named windstorm limit (hurricane coverage) and raised a policy limit (from $50 million to $100 million), and also increased the value bases used to calculate premium, which contributed to last year’s premium increase.

Tyler Smith, an Alliant representative in the room, told the committee the firm “go out to market every year. Every year.” Committee members pressed for clarity on whether last year’s higher premium included coverage‑level changes; presenters confirmed the policy limits and deductible changes were part of the reason last year’s billed premium was higher.

Staff said the district reduced one property deductible in the current renewal from $1,000,000 to $500,000 and increased policy limits (for example, a property limit shown in the materials rose from $100,000,000 to $200,000,000 in the current schedule). After the changes to values and limits, the committee heard that the district’s net premium obligation for 2025–26 would be lower than the budgetary placeholder: presenters told members the most recent calculation showed about $207,000 in year‑over‑year premium savings from the currently proposed renewals, and that, once payments and taxes are final, budget staff estimated the final realized savings could be in the several‑hundred‑thousand‑dollar range (finance cited a working estimate between roughly $500,000 and $800,000 depending on final billings and taxes).

The committee also examined compensation and access questions for the district’s current insurance broker. Committee members asked whether the broker (Alliant) receives commissions from placed carriers; Tyler Smith said Alliant does not take commissions on major lines such as general liability, property, or boiler/machinery included in the firm’s contracted services, though commission arrangements can appear for certain lines not in the original contract (for example, student‑accident and professional liability were identified as exceptions). The broker explained the district pays an annual broker fee (quoted in the meeting as $128,000 for the current contracted year) and that, where third‑party wholesale intermediaries are used to access some global markets, a commission may be payable to the wholesale intermediary but not to Alliant.

Formal action: The committee considered a staff recommendation and, after discussion and a friendly amendment, voted to direct staff to create a timeline and qualifications package for casualty and property insurance brokerage services and to prepare an RFQ (request for qualifications) process. The committee’s motion to direct staff passed on a roll call with committee members present voting yes (roll call recorded as three yes, none against).

What’s next: Staff will prepare an RFQ timeline and qualifications for committee review. The RFQ process is intended to solicit competitive proposals for brokerage services before the district’s current brokerage term concludes. No changes to existing insurance coverage were decided by the committee at this meeting; the renewal work will proceed and additional action on coverage placement was presented as forthcoming to the full board.

Ending: The committee moved on to the agenda’s subsequent items after the RFQ direction; no immediate change to current coverage placement was made at this meeting.