SDPAA – 2015 In Review

By Judy Payne, Executive Director

2015 marked a watershed in the history of the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance with the transition of administration and marketing in-house and the development of a Member Services Program. The purposes of these developments were to provide SDPAA Members with better coverages and better services while maintaining SDPAA’s history of stable, competitive rates. The major goal of the SDPAA in 2015 was a successful transition of these services; a transition as seamless as possible for our Members.

By all accounts, we not only met our goal, we exceeded it. SDPAA Members have better coverage, a better understanding of their coverages and coverage needs, better services, and better communications than they have ever had. This has been a joint effort by the SDPAA Board of Directors, the SDPAA staff, the SDPAA service providers, the SDPAA Member Services Task Force, and all of the Member-Owners of the SDPAA.

2015 Highlights Include:

Rate Reductions

2015 began with the announcement of a reduction in rates for nearly all lines of coverage. The SDPAA Board’s decision to bring services in-house resulted in savings in the SDPAA’s operating budget and a healthy portion of those savings were passed on to SDPAA Members in the form of a total 4.71% rate reduction returning $440,000 to Members.

New Coverages

j Enhanced Crime Coverage – Recognizing Members’ needs for more crime coverage than is typically provided through Employee Dishonesty Bonds required

by statute, the SDPAA began offering Crime Coverage which covers all employees and elected and appointed officials of local government entity Members. Members taking advantage of this coverage see significant reductions in cost while increasing and broadening coverage. j Cyber Liability Coverage – At no expense to Members in 2015, the SDPAA provided limited Cyber Liability

Coverage. In 2016, this limited coverage is built in to

Members’ General Liability coverage and Members have an opportunity to purchase higher limits of the coverage.

Member Communications

The SDPAA’s Member Services Department set a goal of meeting with every Member face-to-face during the year. While we had a few Members with whom we were unable to schedule visits, this goal was largely accomplished. These visits, during which all of the Member’s coverages and exposures were reviewed, have been very beneficial to Members and to the SDPAA. These reviews have revealed instances where coverage necessary was not in place or was inadequate, coverage which was unnecessary (i.e.

buildings or property no longer in existence), and cases where duplicate coverages were in place. Member Services staff also used these meetings as an opportunity to listen to Members’ ideas and suggestions on how the SDPAA can better serve them.

Also to better communicate with Members, the SDPAA launched a new website, www.sdpaaonline.org, which contains information about the SDPAA including news, membership advantages, claims services, loss control services, and a variety of sample documents to assist Members in contract and agreement risk management, facilities use risk management, and special events risk management. The SDPAA staff, with input from Members, will continue working to develop the website as an effective, efficient tool.

Efficiencies for Members

During 2015, the SDPAA staff has worked diligently to make our operations more efficient, always with our Members foremost in mind. Towards that end, we have: j Simplified the SDPAA’s application and renewal process by updating our Underwriting Rating

System resulting in consolidation of rating criteria, reduction in renewal application criteria, and broadened coverage – all of which are beneficial to our Members. j Updated the SDPAA’s Property Valuation System and developed a new Property Valuation Report providing

Members with a more efficient, effective method of ensuring their property is accurately and appropriately valued and covered. j Rewritten SDPAA’s General Liability coverage document and developed an Auto Liability coverage document to clear up ambiguities and to provide

SDPAA Members with documents which are easier to understand and interpret. j Utilized our relationship with the SDPAA’s reinsurance broker to assist Members in obtaining coverage, either through SDPAA or an outside source, for exposures for which coverage had been unobtainable or unaffordable in the past.

Our efforts in 2015 also resulted in an increase in SDPAA membership and additional coverages purchased by current Members.

In 2016, we are committed to continuing and furthering our efforts to provide SDPAA Members with exceptional coverage, services, and return on investment. We are here to serve and assist you, our Member-Owners, in protecting the assets of local governments and the taxpayers.

Happy New Year!