McComb’s insurance agent pressed the board Tuesday to quickly renew its property and automobile insurance policies, which expired at 12:01 a.m. Monday.
Bill Garner of Insurance & Risk Managers of McComb presented the board with a $117,061 quote from Employers Mutual Casualty Co. The policy would cover $60 million of property insured by the city at a rate of 16 cents per $100, as well as city automobiles, excluding fire trucks.
This quote is 16 percent higher than the $83,000 property coverage premium from EMC for the last policy. The automobile premium also will increase by about $2,500.
The current policy has a deductible of $10,000 and would cover McComb until June 30, 2014, if the city renews it, as the board is expected to do at next week’s board meeting.
During the past fiscal year, the city had $281,602 in property and auto claims, more than double its annual premium.
As the city’s agent of record, Garner is responsible for contacting companies interested in insuring the city, collecting quotes and presenting the best options to the board.
Of the eight companies Garner contacted outside of EMC, five declined and two did not issue a quote.
Zurich Insurance responded with a quote that included a $1.3 million named-storm deductible, but gave no quote for a premium.
Despite Garner’s findings, Mayor Whitney Rawlings said he wanted to solicit bids from other agents in the city, but he has run out of time and the city must act now.
“We talk about it, and then six months later, we talk about it some more,” Selectman at-large Tommy McKenzie said. “I’d rather the board vote on it, put somebody in charge and it happens.”
Ward 2 Selectman Michael Cameron said he was curious how the city had allowed the previous policy to expire without deciding what to do for the upcoming year.
“Why are we in this situation?” he asked.
The board briefly discussed soliciting quotes at its June 18 work session but did not revisit the matter at the June 25 meeting, the last meeting before the policy expired.
The board is expected to vote on whether to accept the policy at a meeting next week.
In the meantime, coverage has been extended on an emergency basis until through July 13 for the board to make a decision.
Rawlings plans to discuss what to do with future insurance policies at least 120 days before the current policy expires.
