ref: reel030485 date: 1979-04-01 content: hand for becoming alarmed about, or withdrawing from, a totally unpredictable and uncontrolled environment."
Admittedly there is much more unpredictability in Public Officials liability than there is in Automobile Liability or Workmen's Compensation. Another reason for insurance companies to be unwilling to do business with localities is a general lack of understanding of local government operations. The National League of Cities feels that "policy lines designed for private enterprise and lack of insurer knowledge about local operations has probably accelerated increased rates and abandonment of the market." (Ibid., p.5) By pooling together to share their collective risks and by adopting aggressive risk management campaigns, localities can gain much greater control over their insurance costs.
Five state municipal leagues -- Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Michigan and Texas -- are operating Workmen's Compensation programs on a pooling basis. Missouri and New Jersey are studying the prospects of similar plans. Multiple city programs pooling liability risks are currently operating in Dade County, Florida, and in Sonoma, San Diego and Contra Costa California. (Ibid, p.13). Also, a successful pool has recently been developed in northwest Illinois. Fourteen suburban localities joined together to form the Intergovernmental Risk Management Agency. Savings to pool members have been estimated at 33% over projected conventional insurance costs. ("Governmental Risk Management Reports," Vol. I, No. 1, April 1979.) chunkid: 20634 recordid: 1654 page_number: 1