Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
WCIA director warns Lynnwood council of rising liability costs, urges caution on land use and personnel
Summary
Anne Bennett, executive director of WCIA, told the Lynnwood City Council that runaway tort verdicts and sharply higher reinsurance costs have tightened the liability market and urged councillors to avoid on-the-record comments that can create exposure, to defer personnel actions to staff, and to rely on professional engineering and counsel.
Anne Bennett, executive director of the Washington Cities Insurance Authority, told the Lynnwood City Council on March 16 that cities face a “historically hard market” for liability coverage and that the trend is driving higher reserves and premiums for municipal risk pools.
Bennett said WCIA, a nonprofit municipal risk pool formed in 1981 with more than 165 members and roughly $220 million in assets, retains the first $5 million of many losses and uses reinsurance for amounts above that. “Within the last 10 years, our reinsurance costs have increased 750%,” she said, describing how rising reinsurance prices and large jury verdicts are forcing members to increase reserves.
Her present…
Already have an account? Log in
Subscribe to keep reading
Unlock the rest of this article — and every article on Citizen Portal.
- Unlimited articles
- AI-powered breakdowns of topics, speakers, decisions, and budgets
- Instant alerts when your location has a new meeting
- Follow topics and more locations
- 1,000 AI Insights / month, plus AI Chat
