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Pratt County hears insurance renewal review; EMC urges fleet-safety policy and maintenance plans
Summary
An insurance representative reviewed Pratt County's renewal, citing rising loss ratios driven by commercial auto claims and large reserves. The county was urged to adopt a fleet-safety policy, develop roofing/maintenance plans and track claims to limit future premium increases.
An insurance representative for EMC reviewed Pratt County's insurance renewal and warned commissioners that recent claims have driven the county's experience modification and will increase future premiums.
The representative said Pratt County's experience modification (mod) rose from 0.68 to 0.83 in the latest renewal cycle. That change produced roughly an 11.9% increase in the county's premium even though base rates fell. "When you do that — when anyone does that to an insurance company — they will take action," the insurance representative said, referring to the county's recent loss history.
Why it matters: the mod and large reserves can increase premiums for multiple lines, including commercial auto and umbrella/ excess coverage. The representative identified a single commercial-auto reserve of about $386,001 tied to a law-enforcement-involved accident and said the county also has an inland-marine equipment reserve tied to a 2015 Caterpillar that burned. Property losses and a major hailstorm in 2023 also pushed loss ratios higher.
The representative recommended several practical steps commissioners can take to reduce future rate pressure: adopt a fleet-safety policy tailored to different departments, institute a baseline maintenance program for county buildings, and develop a roofing replacement plan. He said EMC is pressing public-entity customers to demonstrate maintenance and risk controls and that underwriters have started nonrenewing accounts with chronic maintenance failures. "We're going to be kind of bulldogs on this for a year or 2, and then we will relax," the insurance representative said of underwriting actions.
On fleet policy, the representative said EMC expects some customers to move toward a $5 million excess policy and that creation of department-specific driving training (for example for law enforcement versus road crews) would be part of EMC's expectations before expanding excess limits. The representative and county staff discussed that sheriff's-office policies are set by the elected sheriff and that county-level standardization may not fit every department.
Other details shared during the review: - Inland marine/equipment: an older Cat bulldozer (02/2015) suffered fire damage; reserves and cause were discussed but not finalized. - Property: the county's property loss ratio is substantial; trade journals cited by the representative project continued upward pressure on commercial-auto and umbrella lines nationally. - Roofs: underwriters consider roofs older than 35 years as high risk; having a roofing plan to show regular replacements or inspections can affect renewals.
Commissioners and staff asked for earlier trend information for budgeting. A staff member asked whether similar information could be available by June for budget planning; the insurance representative said some of the rate impacts were account-specific and not purely market-driven and that showing subsequent profitability can support removal of debit surcharges.
The presentation included no formal county action; commissioners received the briefing and discussed next steps for staff to pursue clarifying information and potential policy templates.
Ending: County staff said they will continue to seek examples and further guidance on fleet-safety policies and roofing/maintenance plans to present to EMC and to incorporate into the 2026 budget cycle.
