Starke County accepts Great American cyber-liability policy after market review

Starke County commissioners voted to accept a cyber-liability insurance quote from Great American for 2026 after staff and IT reviewed multiple offers and recommended the carrier as the best fit despite a premium increase.

Carrie, who led the renewal process, told the board she marketed the county’s application to nine carriers and received four usable quotes. She said several carriers either declined or demanded extensive system changes that would be ‘‘quite unreasonable’’ for the county to implement in the short term. Carrie summarized the preferred option: "we felt that that quote with Great American was the best option" and reported the premium at $24,875.00.

Stanley, who provided technical system information to carriers, confirmed he and staff had negotiated to remove an exclusion for certain unsupported software after explaining the county’s phased replacement plan. Carrie said the carrier agreed to remove that exclusion, so the selected policy carried no special exclusions she considered disqualifying.

The board noted the selected premium represented roughly a 20% increase from the previous year’s $19,218. Commissioner Charlie seconded the motion to accept the Great American policy; the motion passed on a voice vote. The county will place a copy of the policy in the county’s general book and provide Stanley with a copy so IT staff can access the insurer’s training and incident-response resources. Stanley had already signed a warranty statement on the county’s application, and staff confirmed required signatures were in place.

Next steps: county staff will file the policy copy with county records and coordinate with IT on any recommended training and resources supplied by the insurer.