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Finance committee approves renewed city insurance package, opts for expanded crime coverage
Summary
The Homewood City Finance Committee approved a full insurance renewal that switches some crime coverage to Hiscox and keeps a $500,000 crime limit under a new vendor option; the overall premium rose about 6.8% and several deductibles increased.
Homewood City’s Finance Committee on Jan. 27 approved the city’s annual insurance renewal package, selecting an option that replaces part of the prior Travelers-only coverage with policies from Hiscox and other markets and preserves a $500,000 crime limit rather than accepting a $25,000 offer from Travelers.
The committee’s action, approved 4-0, covered the full suite of city policies presented by the meeting’s presenter and staff. Committee members approved option 1, which maintains a $500,000 crime limit with a premium in line with the city’s budget rather than accepting the $25,000 crime limit that Travelers offered following last year’s claim activity.
Why it matters: Committee members said the change was necessary after a large crime claim last year prompted Travelers to restrict crime limits. The broker and staff noted the overall premium rose by roughly 6.8% and several policy deductibles increased across property, general liability and automobile lines—changes the city will absorb in exchange for broader coverage in other areas such as cyber and funds-transfer exposures.
Details: The presenter walked the committee through two crime-limit options and a premium comparison showing that a $1,000,000 limit would carry a higher premium (presented as $9,663) while the $500,000 option was lower (presented as $7,706) and was recommended as adequate. The presenter said Travelers was willing to offer only $25,000 on crime after the city’s recent claims experience, so staff solicited marketplace options that included Hiscox for the crime element. Committee members discussed that increased deductibles were an industry-wide trend; staff cited increases in liability deductibles to $25,000 and law-enforcement and public-entity deductibles increasing to $50,000 in some lines.
Implementation and next steps: The renewal starts Feb. 1. Staff said existing claims that are already pending will not be subject to new limits; the changes apply to new claims going forward. Committee members asked staff to follow up if additional detail is needed on cyber limits and funds-transfer coverages; staff said those improved in the new package compared with the city’s previous coverage.
Votes at the meeting: The motion to approve the insurance renewal with the recommended option carried 4-0.
