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Specialty Lines
For public entities, pooling is the rule, not the exception. I was reminded recently that when many elected officials take office they are surprised to discover that their county, township, borough, city, authority or school district is part of a public entity insurance pool for one or more of their insurance coverages. That is often because there are very few such pools in the private sector.
More than 85 percent of counties, municipalities and school districts nationwide are insured for more than one line of coverage by a public entity pool. In Pennsylvania, every county participates in one or more of CCAP's insurance programs.
Why such a high participation rate in government? A major reason is the lack of competition. If you are in a group program with other public entities, they are not seen as competition. In fact, much sharing occurs across governments. This is rare and often not possible in the private sector.
The second major reason is the fact that the traditional insurance industry pretty much abandoned public entity liability coverage in the mid 1970's and then again in the mid-1980's. Both times the reaction of many public entities was to band together to provide protection for their entities and their employees.
There are now more than 450 public entity risk pools in the US. Last month I attended a conference for pools, and there were 420 people in attendance from more than 90 pools. This was the largest attendance in AGRiP's history. Yes, there is even a national association for pools - the Association of Governmental Risk Pools. More than 200 pools belong to AGRiP.
At CCAP, our insurance pools partner with Willis, an international insurance broker, to manage our pools. Willis has a specialized business unit, Willis Pooling Practice, which works with 36 pools nationwide. We meet, correspond and share information with those pools and others. We also participate in a group reinsurance company, County Reinsurance Limited (CRL), with 23 pools from 17 states.
Pooling is a great example of sophisticated intergovernmental cooperation, and not that different from the ways you and your county work with your neighboring counties, municipalities and schools.
Make sure you contact us when you need help with something,
John Sallade
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Reminder: PCoRP Annual Membership Meeting
The 27th Annual Meeting of the PCoRP membership will once again be held at the CCAP Fall Conference. The dinner meeting will be Sunday evening, November 24, at the Hotel Hershey. The dinner will start at 6:30 p.m. and should conclude by 8:30 p.m. After dinner, there will be a short business meeting and the presentation of PCoRP's annual awards. There are no proposed bylaws amendments and no board elections this year. However, there will be a special announcement, which will be of interest to all members!
There is no cost for you to attend the meeting, and you are welcome to bring your spouse or a guest. But you do need to preregister for the dinner (we would like to have enough seats and food for everyone!). Registration is easy - just click here and email us the names and titles of who is attending. We have also sent each PCoRP member an email invitation.
So please come and enjoy a great meal and some good news from PCoRP!
If you have any questions about the dinner meeting or about PCoRP, please contact John Sallade.
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PCoRP Audit Distributed to Members
The financial audit of the Pennsylvania Counties Risk Pool (PCoRP) for 2012-2013 was distributed to the membership via email on October 18. The audit was also sent to all PCoRP local insurance producers.
As we noted in the email, PCoRP had a very good year. At the end of the policy year PCoRP's assets exceed liabilities by $27,677,777. Net position increased by $6,266,836 during the year ended May 31, 2013, compared with an increase of $2,031,727 during the year ended May 31, 2012. Total assets increased by $5,969,413 to $42,889,653. Total liabilities decreased by $297,423 to $15,211,876 at May 31, 2013. The decrease was primarily associated with a decrease in the losses and loss adjustment expense reserves for the public officials' liability coverage, but also in general the actual development over the past year has been considerably less than expected given the history of PCoRP through May 2013.
PCoRP provides property, general liability, auto, public officials liability, crime and other insurance coverages to 47 counties and four county related entities. In the past year, PCoRP added three new members: Berks, Chester and Warren Counties.
If you have questions about the PCoRP audit, or just about PCoRP in general, please contact John Sallade at CCAP. |
| Unemployment Compensation and the Impact on Your County in 2014
After several years of significant utilization, federal extensions of benefits, and federal government loans coming due, the Department of Labor and Industry (L&I) is identifying ways to rebuild its unemployment compensation fund. As reimbursable employers, counties have some protection from the possible increase in costs; however, there are three current issues to be aware of, which could impact your county's budget.
INCREASES IN BASE PAYROLL
In 2012, legislation was adopted in Pennsylvania which included a phased increase in base payroll for the purposes of calculating unemployment compensation taxes. Starting in 2013 and for a period of six years, base payroll will increase incrementally from $8,000 to $10,000:
Year Base Payroll
2012 $8,000
2013 $8,500
2014 $8,750
2015 $9,000
2016 $9,500
2017 $9,750
2018 $10,000
RELIEF FROM CHARGES SOLVENCY FEE RATE TO DOUBLE
In 2003, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania adopted a program which allowed reimbursable employers to obtain "Relief from Charges" for claims where the employer was not the separating employer of the person receiving unemployment benefits. Prior to this time, an employee could leave the county's employment of their own volition, take a job elsewhere, and when laid off from that job, some or all of the unemployment benefits paid would be assessed back to the county.
Participating in the Relief from Charges program is optional for reimbursable employers. There is a fee to access the program called the "Solvency Fee." For the first three years of the program, the fee was set at .03% of base payroll. The current fee, through 2013, is .12% of base payroll. In 2014, the fee will increase to .24%.
The CCAP UC Trust has paid the Solvency Fee for its members since 2003. For 2013, the cost of paying the solvency fee was about equal to the maximum claims charges impact had the fee not been paid. With the cost of the Solvency Fee doubling, the UC Trustees have agreed with staff's recommendation that it is no longer cost effective for the Trust to continue paying this fee on our members' behalf. If you are not a member of the Trust and your county has been paying this fee, we encourage you to take a closer look this year. Members of the Trust are able to pay the fee on their own if they so choose.
Unemployment Insurance (UI) Integrity Law
The federal Trade Adjustment Assistance Extension Act of 2011 provides for a new statutory subsection in FUTA (Federal Unemployment Tax Act) in which state UI agencies must prohibit relieving employers of benefit charges to their unemployment tax account when both of the following exist:
- UI benefits were improperly paid, because the employer or their agent was at fault for failing to respond timely or adequately to the agency's request for information relating to the unemployment claim; and
- The employer or agent has established a pattern of failing to respond timely or adequately to such requests.
So, if a claimant is found eligible for benefits because information provided with the claim response is insufficient or untimely, and the claimant is later found ineligible, the state can seek to have the claimant pay back those benefits. In the past, your county would have received a credit for the benefits that were undeserved. Under the Federal UI Integrity guidelines, the state unemployment agency will not credit your unemployment tax account and will instead apply the repaid benefits elsewhere.
In order to avoid any adverse impact to your unemployment costs, we recommend supplying ALL separation information and relevant documents to L&I or your claims administrator. (For members of the CCAP UC Trust, Equifax will contact you and assist you in determining what is needed for each claim.) The information that is commonly needed includes any documents that relate to the separation including standard items kept in the employee file such as letters, warnings and proof the employee knew your county policy. We will keep you informed of any changes in the reporting requirements as this continues to unfold. Stay tuned!
If you have any questions, please contact Julia Jackson, CCAP Employee Benefits Program Manager, at (800) 895-9039 x 3305.
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| Fall Workshop Opportunities!
The fall workshop season is quickly coming to a close! There are three more educational opportunities available to you. Our remaining trainings include:
FALL WORKSHOP OPPORTUNITIES:
As a reminder, most of the workshops are FREE to attend if your county is a member of the sponsoring Insurance Programs. To check if your county is a member of the sponsoring program, please refer to the CCAP Insurance Programs Member Listing.
The CCAP Insurance Programs continues to collaborate with the Academy for Excellence in County Government. Attending the workshop entitled Time Management - Living with Time to Spare will fulfill the personal development required course. These workshops are FREE to current Academy participants.
Even though the fall workshop season is coming to an end there is no time to rest. We have already started planning for the spring 2014 workshop season. Workshop topics are selected from evaluations and suggestions received so please send any ideas you may have to Linda Rosito.
As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact a member of the training staff at glimpse@pacounties.orgor (800) 895-9039.
Thank you for your continued support of the CCAP Iinsurance programs workshops!
Have a great November! |
Keeping the Holidays Safe
Ready or not, it is that time of the year. Time to call relatives you haven't spoken to since the last holiday party. Time to wrestle decorations out of the crawl space you go into twice a year and time for Aunt Edna's JELLO mold. Yes, the holiday season is upon us! It is easy during the holidays to forget about safety when trying to make your home look festive, or when running around attempting to reserve that ever important talking toy that your son or daughter will stop playing with come April. Whether you are spreading holiday cheer for all to hear, or are more like Mr. Ebenezer Scrooge, there are tips to remember to make your holidays safe for you and your family.
Carefully inspect holiday light strings each year and discard any with frayed cords, cracked lamp holders, or loose connections. When replacing bulbs, unplug the light string and be sure to match voltage and wattage to the original bulb. When you are hanging outdoor lights, keep electrical connectors off the ground and away from metal rain gutters. Use insulated tape or plastic clips instead of metal nails or tacks to hold them in place. While you are hanging decorations on your gutters inspect them for damage or sagging. Also, check for any debris to prevent ice buildup that can force gutters to pull away from the house and potentially cause thousands of dollars in damage. Lastly, always turn off holiday lights when you leave the house unattended or when going to bed.
Using a ladder when putting up the lights? Choose the correct ladder for the job and double check for a certification mark to ensure your portable ladder complies with applicable standards.
The top days for candle fires are Christmas Eve and Day, Thanksgiving, New Year's Eve and Day and Halloween. Help reduce the chances of it happening to you by setting them at least a foot away from anything flammable. More than one-quarter of candle fires start because they're too close to items such as curtains and gifts. Never leave a candle unattended, and remember to blow out all candles when you leave the house or go to bed. Another option is to choose wickless candles. These battery-powered LED "candles" flicker realistically.
Replace smoke and carbon monoxide alarm batteries every six months. If it's been awhile since you checked your units, this is the time to do it! Don't forget to test them every month.
A main cause of holiday-season residential fires is food that's left unattended. Use more than one timer to track a multitude of frying, boiling and baking activities. Label each timer with a sticky note: When one goes off, you'll know it's the sweet potatoes that need attention, not the pumpkin pie.
Keep your tree fresh and watered! The best way to ensure your tree is fresh is to cut it yourself. Otherwise, look for a tree with branches that are supple and needles that bend without breaking. Tap the tree on the ground and if it looks like a Charlie Brown tree afterwards, it is too dry. Be sure that your tree is stable and away from any heat source. Dispose of your tree when needles begin falling off in plenteous amounts.
Mask those high priced gifts. Don't announce your new flat-screen TV to burglars by putting the intact box out by the trash. Break it down for recycling, turn it inside out or tear it into pieces that will fit inside a garbage bag.
For more information, contact the CCAP Loss Control Department at (800) 99895-9039; or email us at:
Gary Nicholson, Loss Control Services Manager
Maureen McMahon, Loss Control Specialist
Andrew Smith, Loss Control Specialist
Dennis Cutler, Loss Control Specialist |
Upcoming Events
PCoRP Annual Membership Meeting November, 24, 2013 The Hotel hershey COMCARE Delegates Meeting November 26, 2013 The Hotel Hershey COMCARE Board Meeting November 26, 2013 The Hotel Hershey COMCARE PRO Subscribers Meeting November 26, 2013 The Hotel Hershey
Board and committee meetings of all CCAP insurance programs are open to members of those pools. If you plan to attend a meeting, please let us know in advance so we can plan for room set-up and any meals. Send your attendance plans to John Sallade at CCAP. |
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Quote of the Month
"The only difference between baggage and a treasure chest is the contents."
- Neal Petersen |
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