NIC to pay more for new insurance coverage

COEUR d'ALENE — After being dropped by its property-casualty insurer earlier this year, North Idaho College has secured quotes for coverage through a different insurer with significantly higher premiums.

NIC Interim Vice President for Finance Sarah Garcia told NIC trustees Wednesday that it’s been a “long process” to get this far.

“We have been declined by many national firms,” she said.

The Idaho Risk Management Program, or ICRMP, a member-owned carrier created by Idaho local governments to provide property and casualty insurance for public entities, decided in May that it would not renew NIC’s policy after June 30 due to “numerous factors.”

ICRMP paid $250,000 to former NIC President Rick MacLennan as part of a settlement for a wrongful termination lawsuit. The suit was filed last fall after trustees voted 3-2 in September 2021 to fire MacLennan without cause. Earlier in 2021, the college suffered substantial losses when a windstorm toppled dozens of trees on campus, damaging some buildings.

ICRMP reportedly insures more than 1,000 public entities throughout Idaho, though not all. The insurer decided not to renew Canyon County’s insurance policy last month, for example, citing a high loss ratio.

NIC obtained a short-term policy with ICRMP that covered liability and property from July 1 to Sept. 30. That policy expired at midnight.

The college paid a $310,000 annual premium to ICRMP for the year from July 1, 2021, to June 30, 2022. The short-term policy cost $114,907.

Garcia said Friday that the new premium for the liability package is $540,000, and that they were expecting a quote for property coverage sometime that day.

A prior property coverage quote had been received, but it was “not ideal” for NIC, Garcia said. She told The Press she did not have a copy of that quote, but that the college’s broker told her it was over $650,000.

NIC President Nick Swayne told trustees during Wednesday’s meeting that the new coverage is not a permanent solution, and Garcia agreed.

She said that ICRMP is not comfortable insuring NIC now, but that if the college shows improvement in its losses “and the other issues we’re dealing with,” that ICRMP could insure them again.

Garcia has committed to putting out a request for proposals in spring 2023.