Property and Liability

The Property and Liability Program began in 1985 as a self-insured program with excess coverage. The members purchase excess general liability insurance, which includes coverage for automobile liability, bodily injury and property damage, personal injury, public officials errors and omissions liability, and employment practice liability coverage through CSAC-Excess Insurance Authority. The coverage is underwritten on a per occurrence basis with a limit of $15 million and a $250,000 Self-Insured Retention (SIR). All members, except Alpine, also purchase additional excess coverage up to $25 million per occurrence through CSAC-Excess Insurance Authority.

Claims are administered by Trindel Insurance Fund staff, who also acts as a clearing house for claims that may have coverage in other areas or have overlapping coverage’s or issues, i.e. aircraft, boiler & machinery, crime/bond, medical malpractice, pollution, and watercraft. Trindel Insurance Fund directs the claim to the appropriate insurer and coordinates coverage if more than one policy is impacted. Subrogation is aggressively pursued where appropriate.

The members purchase excess property insurance through CSAC-Excess Insurance Authority with a $25,000 SIR for real property and a $10,000 SIR for vehicles. Coverage includes all risk, earthquake (except for San Benito and Trinity, Del Norte purchases earthquake for selected locations) and flood (earthquake and flood have higher SIRs and lower limits). San Benito and Trinity do not purchase earthquake coverage due to their locations, which makes it very expensive. The other members are in zone 2 and thus have limited earthquake coverage at no additional cost. The majority of the members purchase replacement cost new coverage for their vehicles and contractors equipment. Appraisals of all locations with a value in excess of $25,000, are completed every five years. The most current appraisals were completed in July 2009. The next appraisals will be completed in the summer of 2014.

Trindel provides for an annual actuarial study to determine the necessary premium for each member to attain a reserve for claims, including unpaid and IBNR (incurred but not reported) at the 90% confidence level. Reserves are booked at expected, 50% confidence level. Overall the program is funded at the 95%+. The members are charged a deductible per occurrence for all property losses. The deductible is currently $1,000 per occurrence. There is no deductible for liability. All members are required to participate in the Liability/Property Program with Trindel simply acting as a bank as it does for all the other programs.