Loganville council votes 5-0 to keep Travelers as insurer despite 24% premium rise

The Loganville City Council voted 5-0 to renew the citys property and casualty insurance with Travelers, accepting an increase of roughly 24% for the coming policy year.

Danny Roberts, the official identified in the meeting as the person in charge of the city budget, presented late-arriving quotes and said a recommendation to remain with Travelers was based on coverage differences and deductible structure. "I would make a recommendation that we stick with Travelers and that is for the amount of $641,279 and that would be effective July 1," Roberts said.

Roberts explained the choice reflected Travelers' more favorable handling of wind and hail losses. He said Trident's wind and hail terms included a minimum of 1% of building value or a $50,000 minimum per occurrence, which could result in large per-building payments if a storm damaged downtown properties such as the new library or city hall.

Councilors asked whether the city had updated insured property values; Roberts said staff had conducted a full audit of buildings, removed raw land from coverage and increased replacement values where appropriate (he gave examples of towers and specific addresses whose insured values were raised).

Roberts attributed much of the premium increase to a rise in automobile claims and market-wide insurance cost growth; he also noted law enforcement liability costs had increased. The council voted to "stay with Travelers and absorb the increase," and the motion passed 5-0.

The council recorded that the adopted FY26 budget will be amended to reflect the higher premium and that Natalie has authority to make the necessary budget adjustment.

The motion to renew coverage with Travelers was approved; no formal public comment on the insurer was recorded during the meeting.