Claims spike tied to vehicle collisions; trust approves claim and loss report

Rob Fitzgerald, account manager and liability supervisor with CCMSI, told the Grundy County Insurance Trust that the trust has seen an unusually high number of auto-collision claims since the previous meeting and that those losses are driving a negative variance in the trust accounts.

Fitzgerald said the financial summary showed a “negative variance of just under just shy of a $142,000,” and that many of the new losses were collision-related. Since the last meeting, Fitzgerald reported, the trust had recorded seven new accidents, most involving county sheriff deputies’ vehicles. “So 1 was a deer strike… there was another where a woman… hit a squad… The other 4 involve 2 separate occurrences… both police pursuits of perpetrators fleeing the police,” Fitzgerald said, noting subrogation is possible but uncertain because at-fault parties may be uninsured.

Fitzgerald walked trustees through the open-file counts and a severity-class report that showed most closed claims were low-cost: 83% of closed claims concluded at $5,000 or less, and about 91% closed at $25,000 or less. He also noted there is one public-officials claim currently in litigation that requires defense costs.

After the presentation, the trust voted to approve the claim and loss report. A motion to approve the claim and loss report was made by Mackazanza and seconded by Doug Brazy; the chair called for the ayes and announced the motion carries.

Fitzgerald said staff will continue to pursue subrogation where appropriate and that the trust’s goal is to close certain open files soon. No further policy changes were enacted at the meeting.