Harris County Schools hear insurance-market briefing; broker aims to return in May with renewal numbers

Matt Simmons, senior director of Gallagher’s public-sector K–12 education practice, told the Harris County Board of Education on Feb. 13 that the property insurance market is starting to stabilize but that casualty lines — including educators’ legal and general liability — remain under pressure.

Simmons said the district has experienced a “hardening of the market” in recent years and attributed much of the pressure to large weather events and rising jury awards. “There has been some, there's been, what we call a hardening of the market where we're seeing, increased rates for various reasons,” he said. He pointed to 2024 billion-dollar weather and climate disasters as a factor driving insurer pricing.

The presentation was part of a facilities and technology update. Simmons described Gallagher’s role as forward-looking risk consultant: tracking losses, advising on vendor insurance requirements and coverage gaps, and helping the district budget for insurance renewals. “My goal, to present to you in May,” he said when asked about timing for final renewal numbers. He added that aligning the district’s insurance renewal with its fiscal year has improved the budgeting process.

Simmons said property insurance has shown some stability after several years of double-digit increases driven in part by updated appraisals and higher replacement costs. By contrast, the casualty market remains difficult: “On the casualty side of things, this will be your educator's legal, your general liability. We're still seeing, what we call a hard market,” he said, noting that larger jury verdicts in Georgia are increasing claims costs and that tort reform is on the legislature’s agenda.

He also described cyber insurance as a more stable line after prior work to improve the district’s security controls, and said workers’ compensation is “experience driven” and that Harris County Schools has “pretty good loss experience.” Simmons emphasized risk transfer through vendor insurance requirements and urged the district to review coverages when it contracts vendors or builds facilities.

Board members asked clarifying questions about which loss history data applied to the district and about how depreciation factors into premiums for buses and buildings. Simmons explained that vehicle values affect auto physical damage pricing and that building values are measured by replacement cost rather than depreciation because an older building still must be rebuilt at current construction prices.

Simmons closed by restating his target to return with final quotes around May, noting that actual timing depends on when markets will release quotes. “That’s kind of where I'm at — my goal is to be back here in May, to present,” he said.

The briefing provided the board with projections to inform the current budget process; Simmons described the figures as conservative estimates intended to avoid midyear budget shortfalls.