County claims down but insurance hike 7.6%
Administrator | Mar 14, 2011 | Comments 4
By Ross Lees
Prince Edward County council was not happy to hear about a 7.6 per cent increase in their insurance for 2011.
At a committee of the whole meeting March 10, Frank Wright of W.H. Williamson and Co., explained the increase came about in part because of increased coverage on such things as the new Wellington and District arena, the new Picton waste water treatment plant, and the skate park in Picton.
Even though the County’s claims are down, the premium is up. The explanation is that the County’s experience is pooled with the market and that pool is less favourable, hece, increases across the board. The renewing proposal incorporates an overall 7.6 per cent increase over last year purely as a result of inflation pressures of the insurace marketplace. A premium expense of $833,321 represents a 7.6 per cent increase over last year. A portion of the expense will be funded by the ‘suer pay’ mandate of those departments responsible for the expense with the remainder funded by the tax levy. Full report here: http://princeedward.fileprosite.com/FileStorage/039704E4126D45F491179E2363F5E6AF-Report%20regarding%20Municipal%20Insurance%20Renewal.pdf
While there was some question about whether the municipality could shop the market and maintain its coverage, James Hepburn indicated there was adequate coverage already budgeted for to allow the search for improved coverage.
Wright noted the municipality had three years of coverage when the premium actually went down, but that did not satisfy councillor Jamie Forrester, who noted the premium had gone up five per cent last year and was now scheduled to go up 7.6 per cent this year.
Councillor Terry Shortt asked Wright if there were any areas he felt the corporation was over insured.
Wright responded, “You have 196 structures. Maybe you should ask yourself if you need to insure all of these buildings.”
It was noted the liability insurance could probably be taken off some of those structures, leaving coverage for replacement cost, and when Shortt asked if there could be significant savings from such a move, Wright indicated it was possible.
Susan Turnbull, commissioner of Corporate Services and Finance, told council they had already begun a review of all municipally-owned structures and they could bring forward a report on those structures in the near future.
A motion was passed by council that the insurance program renewal presented by Wright be received.
Filed Under: Local News
Considering the collapse of the ceiling at the Sophiasburgh Town Hall removing coverage on County owned buildings likey is not a good idea.Imagine if there was some sort of function going on when this happened.
It makes no sense that a tender process for insurance wasn’t in place. You do indeed need to review your properties and equipment to determine the coverage’s you require. An insurance tender process would force all ompanies to sharpenen their pencils. So they approve a 7.6% increase and life goes on.
How many trucks do we own and how are they insured? When I worked for a large corporation in the 80s, the only coverage was liability as it was cheaper to write off and replace several vehicles a year, than to pay for collision coverage. Council should definitely shop around for lower insurance rates. I’ve changed auto and home insurance many times over the years, to get better rates.
196 structures with insurance on them. I would like to see a list of them.
I think maybe Frank Wright is correct when he says a survey of the buildings should be made and maybe insurance taken off some of them.
Did council not think insurance rates would rise when they have to insure new structures like the Wellington Arena and the Skate Park which might be liable for liability insurance and the filtration plant would probably have high liability on it too