County sees 5% increase in property, liability coverage

Henry County is spending 5 percent more on property and liability coverage this year; however, the cost is actually down by 12 percent comparatively when considering the county's new investments.

Mike Vens, the county's insurance representative, presented an overview of property and liability coverage to county supervisors on Thursday, Dec. 13. With added properties such as Public Health and risk coverage for building the new Henry County Jail, Vens said property coverage should have gone up by 42 percent in Henry County.

'The ICAP program remains very strong financially,” Vens said. 'The new reinsurance agreement has helped keep costs even though exposures continue to grow.”

The county's building coverage limits were increased by 2 percent unless a specific change was requested such as with the jail, the new cabins at Oakland Mills and equipment for Public Health, Vens explained in an account summary. All other property was reviewed with the department heads.

The total insurance values went up from $16 million to $23 million.

Vens also said that property rates are down significantly because of a new reinsurance carrier and loss free discounts.

General liability contribution is down as well because of the new rating system and reinsurance cost.

Auto liability was up slightly this year averaging about $8 more per vehicle, increasing the total insured values for county vehicles by about $3,000.

The county did receive about $1,000 less in credit vouches this year because of incidents like the tornado that went through Marshalltown earlier this year, Vens said. The county received $18,253 as opposed to last year's $19,414.

'There's a lot of damage there, so when they pay those big claims it reduces their reserves and reduces share all members get back from what you've paid in,” Vens said.