County insurance pool pitch makes splash with Penetanguishene

Municipal insurance has been a costly necessity for many years now, but a recent resolution by Simcoe County has allowed for its municipalities to sign onto an insurance pool if they want.

For individual councils, such as had been seen by Penetanguishene in its regular meeting of council, a presentation by the county and service provider helped to inform the decision makers as well as residents with how it can lighten wallets while making communities safer.

The presentation to Penetanguishene was an easily-digestible slideshow and in-person explanation from CIO and principal broker Ryan Durrell of Axxima Insurance Services, along with Simcoe County general manager of corporate performance Trevor Wilcox.

“Starting around the early 2000s, we had the longest and most prolific soft insurance market with prices regularly reducing over that 15 year period until about 2019, (where) everybody realized that the insurance premiums were going up significantly over the following few years,” said Durrell.

Similar to the Waterloo Region Municipalities Insurance Pool of 1998 and Durham Municipal Insurance Pool of 2000, the proposed startup for Simcoe County would be available for any of its municipalities should they choose to join.

Projected county insurance premiums (amounting to $20.6 million for 2025) estimated that while expected losses of 34 per cent went to pay claims, roughly 66 per cent of premiums would “go places other than serving the needs of the community” (Durrell).

“To drive this home is a great analogy,” said Durrell. “Self-insurance is very much like making your own meals at home, and insurance is very much like dining out at restaurants; both have their places.”

Durrell added that instead of 18 individual municipal policies, one large policy would provide “best in class” coverage comparable to the status quo they had experienced, with savings of $4.3 million (or 19.2 per cent). 

Wilcox cautioned that it would be most beneficial for municipalities to sign on initially rather than wait and attempt to enter at a later date once the pool had been established, with municipalities ideally joining before mid-February for a five-year commitment. 

A report was addressed during the latter committee of the whole meeting, with an approved recommendation that the town become a founding subscriber of the municipal insurance pool.

“Penetanguishene is going to realize about $400,000 in savings,” said Mayor Doug Rawson following the meeting. 

“This pooled approach is very positive, but more importantly, it provides depth for risk management expertise – where we can lean on the strength that the county can put in, but it’s being paid for in concert with the other 16 municipalities and the county of Simcoe.”

The matter is anticipated to appear for possible ratification at an upcoming regular meeting of council.

The municipal insurance pool presentation and accompanying town report can be located on the agenda page of the Town of Penetanguishene website.

Meetings of Penetanguishene council are held on the second Wednesday of each month, and can be watched live on Rogers TV cable 53 when available, or on the Rogers TV website.

Archives of council meetings are located on the Town of Penetanguishene YouTube channel.