Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Insurance And Risk topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
ICRMP warns of volatile property reinsurance market; county holds executive session on claims
Summary
Tim Osborne of ICRMP briefed Kootenai County commissioners on acute volatility in the property reinsurance market that required higher program retentions and prompted ICRMP to adopt interim billings for significant increases in insured values.
Tim Osborne, executive director of the Idaho Counties Risk Management Program (ICRMP), told Kootenai County commissioners that dramatic market shifts in property reinsurance since 2022 forced ICRMP to raise program retentions and that the program is introducing interim billings if a member’s total insured value (TIV) rises by more than $5 million between annual reporting dates.
Osborne summarized the market drivers: a prolonged soft reinsurance market followed by pandemic-related supply-chain inflation, major catastrophe losses (including hurricanes and convective storm losses), and a capacity crunch in 2023 that pushed reinsurers to raise premiums and reduce coverage. He said those changes led ICRMP to move from a $350,000 retention to $10 million for a renewal cycle — a change members absorbed so the pool could avoid passing extremely large increases directly to participants.
"When we went into our renewal for 2023... our reinsurer came back and said... increase our premium by 310% — $5,500,000," Osborne said, describing the rationale for raising the retention to $10 million, which yielded a smaller premium increase for members. He said ICRMP subsequently negotiated a lower retention (roughly $1 million with a 2.5x aggregate) for a later renewal and that the most recent renewal showed market stabilization with some rate improvement.
Osborne said ICRMP’s new approach will compare exposure units quarter by quarter, and if a member’s TIV rises by more than $5,000,000 during the reporting window the program will issue an interim billing to reflect that added exposure; replacement cost will be used for valuation. He said the program’s 2025 premiums were expected to average increases between 6% and 15% for most members, lower than the steep increases seen in prior years.
John Getty, a county insurance staffer, recommended departments review mobile equipment values (insured at actual cash value) and flagged the Justice Building addition as a significant increase in county property exposure; Getty cited a $42 million insured value figure provided to him and said the interim rate estimate is about $2.52 per $1,000 of insured value.
After the presentation, the board voted to enter executive session under Idaho Code §74-206(1)(a) to discuss county claims. A motion to go into executive session was moved and seconded; commissioners recorded their ayes and the board convened in closed session. On return to open session, commissioners stated that no decisions were made in executive session and that staff should proceed as discussed on the closed matter.
