County Approves Insurance Carrier; Commissioner Says Move Will Save $106,000

6/25/2005

By Angel Rae Hill
Staff writer

NEW CUMBERLAND – The Hancock County Commission voted Friday to switch from the Board of Risk Insurance Management (BRIM) to St. Paul’s through Assure America for its property and casualty insurance.

“This move will save our county approximately $106,000in the upcoming fiscal year,” Hancock County Commissioner Dan Greathouse said. “This will definitely help with our expenses and balance our budget.”

The commission approved the switch Friday morning during its reconvened meeting. The commission decided to continue its June 16 meeting this week to allow themselves more time to further study the insurance issues. Greathouse said after last week’s meeting, they had a  chance to speak with Assure America and think about their options.

After the commission meeting, Hancock County Administrator Chuck Svokas said if Hancock County stayed with BRIM, the county’s property and casualty insurance would have cost $266,584 for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. BRIM is the state’s insurance agency.

“Our contract with Assure America is just for one year,” Svokas said. “As long as the premium stays low, we’ll probably stay with them.”

He said the one-year contract will allow the county to review its options at the end of the 2005-2006 fiscal year and decide whether or not to stay with St. Paul’s through Assure America. Svokas said when it comes to property and casualty insurance, there aren’t many choices available to government entities.

“A lot of insurance companies got out of the business of providing property and casualty insurance for government entities,” Svokas said. “We really only had three choices – St Paul’s, Scottsdale and BRIM.”

He said they decided to go with St. Paul’s because they had the lowest premium of the three companies. He also explained the relationship between St. Paul’s and Assure America. St. Paul’s will provide the property and casualty insurance, and Assure America will handle the paper work. The county will pay St. Paul’s through Assure America approximately $160,753 to handle its property and casualty insurance for the 2005-2006 fiscal year. Property and casualty insurance will cover the county’s buildings, properties, vehicles and liabilities.

Greathouse said even though the switch will help balance the county’s budget, other costs are continuing to increase. Some of the county’s increasing costs include its health insurance and regional jail fees. When the county asked its employees to opt their insurance in exchange for a cash incentive, eight employees decided to forgo their health insurance for a year. The county commission currently pays the full premium for its employees’ health insurance. They paid $800 per month for families and $500 per month for singles. When the county first introduced the option, they had 100 courthouse employees on its health insurance plan. The employees on the family plan who decided to opt their insurance will receive $250 per a month and singles will receive $125 per a month.  Greathouse said the option created $20,000 in savings for the county. He said the county is also concerned about its regional jail fees, and it could cost the county anywhere from $850,000 to $1 million during the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

“Right now, we don’t know where the regional jail fee is going,” Greathouse said. “We only budgeted a half million for our regional jail costs.”

He said there are some things happening in Charleston to help curve regional jail costs, but the commission won’t have a chance to see if anything will be beneficial until after July 1.

In other items:

*The commission approved Weirton Councilman George Kondik to fill in a vacated seat on the Northern Panhandle Workforce Investment Board.

*Hancock County Commission President Jeff Davis announced the commission’s next meeting is slated 1:30 p.m. July 7.

*The commission tabled the Hancock County Parks and Recreation’s request for funding to repair flood damage at Kennedy Marina and Cove Park. The commission is scheduled to meet with Hancock County Parks & Recreation Board of Directors President Keith English to discuss the parks & recreation’s needs.

FYI:

WHAT: The Hancock County Commission approved to switch from the Board of Risk Insurance Management to St. Paul’s through Assure America for its property and casualty insurance.

WHY: The commission will save the county approximately $106,000 in the upcoming fiscal year by switching insurance carriers.

Other points: The county will pay St. Paul’s through Assure America approximately $160,753 to handle its property and casualty insurance for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.

*Hancock County Administrator Chuck Svokas said if the county stayed with BRIM, they would have paid $266,584 for property and casualty insurance for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.