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MCIT briefs Isanti County on rising reinsurance, property values and cyber trends
Summary
A Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust consultant told the board reinsurance costs and property valuations are pushing up contribution rates, cyber claims have trended up though ransomware losses declined, and MCIT offers loss‑control services to counties.
Joe Seminski, a risk management consultant for the Minnesota Counties Intergovernmental Trust (MCIT), briefed the Isanti County Board of Commissioners on July 1 about changing trends in the insurance/reinsurance market, cyber claims, and services MCIT provides to counties.
Seminski said MCIT is a joint powers risk‑sharing pool rather than an insurance company and emphasized that MCIT’s board is composed of peers who run county operations. “We’re not an insurance company. We’re a joint powers entity in a risk sharing pool,” he said.
He told commissioners that reinsurance premiums have risen sharply and cited a roughly 10% single‑year increase in reinsurance premium costs. Seminski said MCIT has taken steps such as increasing casualty retention from $850,000 to $1,000,000 and increasing workers’ compensation retention from $500,000 to $1,000,000; those changes moderated premium increases, he said, saving substantial dollars on reinsurance premiums.
On property coverage, Seminski noted appraisals conducted in February 2024 for county buildings over $100,000 in value and said higher replacement costs for buildings and rising construction prices are increasing property coverage costs for counties.
Seminski described cyber‑claim trends: the number of cyber claims has increased in recent years, with a large 2023 spike; however, he said ransomware claims have declined and that improved email filtering and employee training have reduced some losses. “I like to point out here is the drop in this trend downward, from the 1.7 to $567,000 in cyber losses. This is, primarily due to a drop off in, ransomware claims that has fallen off, significantly,” he said, adding that an estimated majority of cyber incidents originate via email phishing.
Board members asked about dividend strategy and fund balances; Seminski said dividend decisions and reserve levels are actuarial matters and that MCIT aims to collect premiums close to actuarial needs rather than over‑collect.
Seminski also described MCIT value‑added services, including risk management consultations, loss‑control assistance, employee assistance program resources, safety training, boiler and pressure‑vessel inspections, benchmark analytics for sheriff’s offices, and defensive driver training through the Minnesota Safety Council. He encouraged county staff to call MCIT when in doubt about potential claims, citing the benefit of early communication.
No board action was taken on the presentation; it was informational.
