ROCHELLE — A new insurance company will be providing liability and workman’s compensation coverage for the Flagg-Rochelle Community Park District.

Commissioners voted 7-0 in a special meeting on Wednesday to accept a three-year insurance bid from Park District Risk Management Agency in lieu of the district’s current provider I-Parks.
The move is expected to save the district approximately $50,000 in premium costs, but it also means the district staff will become much more involved with risk management measures at park facilities and spend some money.
“We would rather keep your costs down and spend time helping you cut down risk upfront and hopefully reducing the number of claims we have to pay out later,” explained PDRMA president and CEO Brett Davis, during a presentation on Wednesday. “This is a shared risk type of group insurance plan and we require all of our members to participate in reducing risk.”
Davis said a policy with PDRMA is basically an inter-governmental contract with a pool of districts, and the insurance company is governed by a board made up of some of its members.

PDRMA’s quote for both liability and worker’s compensation coverage was approximately $33,000 per year for three years, while the I-Parks quote came in at close to $83,000.
“During our early discussions you had concerns that our coverage was not the same as I-Parks, and when I saw the difference I also thought something was missing and took it back for another look,” Davis told the board. “But the numbers are correct and do include worker’s compensation too. You have well-maintained facilities and equipment and the quote is also based on your past history of low claims. This is a quote for full coverage.”

Davis added that while the costs are much lower, there is more responsibility on the insured to comply with recommendations and do more regular safety inspections and maintenance of facilities.
“We will ask that you appoint a safety coordinator on staff to work with us and you will need to spend some money to add signage and implement other safety measures that we would require as part of a risk management,” Davis stated.
Park board member Michelle Pease asked Davis if the park district’s premiums could rise due to claims by other members in the insurance pool.

“Well, yes it could if a large number of members had bigger claims during a particular period, but if your park district has lower claims than the average of the group that would help keep your rates down,” Davis said. “Obviously, your rates also could also go up if your were to add new property or facilities.”
Prior to the board vote, park director Roger Bunger said he would welcome the opportunity for his staff to get more hands on with the risk management of liability.
“I would relish an agency telling us exactly what we would have to do, because our staff has never really been trained in what to look for and it would only make us better and safer,” he stated.