ref: reel030486 date: 1978-06-27 content: VMI Insurance Committee
Early in 1977 the Virginia Municipal League formed an Insurance Committee to explore various alternatives available to Virginia's localities. This committee was initially under the very able guidance of the late Avery Thomas, Newport News City Attorney. Mr. Thomas was succeeded as chairman by William L. Wimbish, Assistant City Attorney for Richmond. On June 27, 1978, Bernard M. Hulcher, formerly manager of the Southern States reciprocal insurance company, was engaged to perform consultive services necessary to complete the study begun by Mr. Thomas.
Among the areas of insurance coverage considered by the committee were Public Officials liability for Errors and Omissions, Automobile liability, and Workmen's Compensation. These three areas were most frequently mentioned by local officials in discussions of risk management problems. In order to simplify the feasibility study and to limit costs it was determined that the study should focus on the formation of a reciprocal insurance company owned and operated by member localities in Virginia. While the Insurance Committee study did not delve into the pros and cons of other possibilities, such as pooling arrangements or the group purchase of insurance, it is entirely possible that such an alternative format might be recommended by the Insurance Committee as work progresses on the formation of the reciprocal. If it is determined that a group purchase of one line of insurance is more efficient than direct incorporation in the reciprocal plan, the group purchase option could be made available to all members of the reciprocal for that line of chunkid: 20635 recordid: 1655 page_number: 1