Laura Deeley Bren, of Deeley Insurance Group, talks numbers during the special meeting at the Ocean Pines Community Center on Saturday, April 13.
By Morgan Pilz, Staff Writer
(April 18, 2019) Ocean Pines will pay $461,247 a year for insurance policies and have higher coverage limits through its new insurance program from Deeley Insurance Group.
The insurance company, which became the association’s broker on Feb. 14, has made several changes to the policies and limits. A presentation of what has changed was reviewed in a special meeting last Saturday.
“We arranged meetings over a two-week period,” Cindy Hall, vice president of sales and client services, said during the Saturday meeting. “We met with all the department heads and reviewed information and looked over details. We needed to do a marketing process and took it out to all the various markets that we could with the information that we had.
“What we try and do is make sure we’re part of the process,” she continued.
Savings were found in areas, such a flood coverage, with a return premium of $16,899.
Various insurance prices changed under the Deeley Insurance Group, although some things remained the same. General liabilities will be covered for $2.4 million.
Auto insurance remained with Philadelphia Insurance Company, with a combined single limit of $1 million. Crime is covered with Philadelphia and Hartford, with total limits at $3.15 million for employee theft and forgery and alteration.
Coverage was also included for security for $50,000 overall, with $10,000 for computer fraud, kidnap and ransom for $25,000 and has a $2,000 deductible.
Cyber Liability will be covered through Access Insurance Company, with a separate limit for first party and third party at $1 million each ,with a $5,000 deductible.
The association’s inland marine is with Philadelphia Insurance Company, with slightly over $2.8 million for equipment scheduled, and $100,000 for unscheduled equipment, which includes hardware and software for computers. Coverage will include $600,000 for hardware and $900,000 for software. All of this is provided with a $1,000 deductible.
Police professional insurance is now with Hudson insurance company, with coverage for $3 million each person. There is coverage for law enforcement wrongful act with an annual aggregate at $3 million as well as a $10,000 deductible.
Marina operator’s legal liability is covered under Travelers for $1 million and the protection and indemnity, including legal and investigative, expenses for $1 million.
Workers compensation will remain with the current carrier, Chesapeake Employers Insurance, though there will be an increase in coverage. Each accident and disease policy limit for each person or employee will be $500,000 each.
“All policies excluding workers compensation — you will see a decrease in premiums,” Deeley Client Advisor Megan Muller said. “Worker’s compensation, there’s a little bit of an increase that we are tackling for an overall premium of $461,247.”
After the meeting, audience members asked questions about the policies put in place. Assistant Treasurer Gene Genaro immediately asked about the coverage limits.
“How do these values determine … is that the industry standard was taken from an existing policy that OPA had,” Genaro asked. “How was that determined?”
“Where we started was looking at the current coverages that you had,” Muller said. “As a side note, on the general liability last year, you had a $1.2 million and for a very similar pricing structure. We got it to $2.4 million. We’ve already doubled your primary general liability limit.
“There are some opportunities, we believe, to consider some higher limits,” she continued. “Your police professionals — there’s some opportunity, perhaps in your camp programs [as well]. We also [want] to look at the directors and officers’ liabilities, and those are things that we’re looking at from a budget standpoint in future years.”
Muller returned to workers’ compensation, citing its importance.
“We’re trying to be respectful of what are the most critical items that we need to help work with management and the board of directors on,” Muller said. “We at this time believe it’s the worker’s compensation because it’s driving such a significant cost. We want to spend a lot of our time on working on that piece.
Genaro was also interested in seeing just how much has increased.
“What I’m hearing is forward planning, which is fantastic,” he said. “How does the total cost of insurance compare to what we were paying … is this going to increase?”
Last year, the association paid $404,379, Muller said. With Deeley insurance, costs increased by nearly $50,000 but for more coverage. Costs have decreased overall for all but one policy group.
“We were able to deliver about a four percent reduction for all of the policies except for the workers comp,” Muller said. “Those were ones we were able to transition and move. The workers comp, unfortunately, with the trend that we have currently and some significant exposures that just exist in your community for employees … it’s the market. Number one, it’s limited and two, we’ve got to really work on that trend so that you become more marketable.”
Board of Directors President Doug Parks praised the work and partnership efforts provided by Deeley Insurance Group.
“Throughout this process of the Deeley Insurance Group, folks talking with the folks at OPA, what’s sort of the byproduct here is there’s been something of a partnership,” Parks said.
“One of the things in a previous meeting was how do we look at the drivers that are having an effect on the cost of workman’s comp, or the things that we should be looking at. That’s the kind of partnership, I call the value added, that you’re getting out of this with regard to not just saying, ‘Hey here’s the policy, here’s the coverage, write us a check.’”
Vice President Steve Tuttle had his own question about how to minimize risks.
“What do you provide in the area of helping us to manage risk with so many different activities and sites, marinas and all that? I think we have a lot of exposure,” Tuttle said. “So how do we minimize risk?”
“This is a marathon not a sprint,” Muller said. “What we want to do, so that we don’t have to spend external money or spend external resources, is leverage all the resources that we have from our carriers and make sure that we follow through with them to implement the plans and the strategies that have been laid out.”