Warren County approves property and casualty renewal after broker says county limited increase to 4.8%

Arthur J. Gallagher presented the Warren County committee with a summary of the county’s 2026 property and casualty insurance renewal, reporting an overall premium increase of 4.8% after risk‑management and policy changes helped mitigate an earlier market estimate of roughly 18%.

Gallagher representatives described broad market pressure on auto, general liability, excess liability and law‑enforcement liability lines, driven by rising litigation and higher settlement/jury award levels. Gallagher said the county’s improvements — including updated policies, a new risk and safety committee, workplace‑harassment and wire‑transfer protocols, vehicle‑use standards and a strengthened risk‑management posture — made the county more attractive to carriers.

The renewal included several coverage improvements: an increase in the cyber limit from $3 million to $5 million, a reduction of a deductible on certain liability lines (health‑care general/professional liability deductible lowered from $5,000 to $0), an embedded $1,000,000 technology E&O coverage for shared IT services, and an increase in property valuations from $174 million to $184 million for premium/limit calculations. Gallagher also provided a market quote to increase excess liability from $11 million to $16 million for an additional estimated $89,000 in premium over the county’s current excess premium.

County staff and supervisors asked about policy inventories, social‑engineering limits embedded in cyber coverage, and whether the presented premium matched the agenda’s preliminary figure; Gallagher and county self‑insurance staff confirmed digital copies of full policies are held by county offices and that the final premium came in lower than the figure used in the meeting packet.

The committee moved the renewal to the floor and approved it by voice vote.