REPORT/RECOMMENDATION TO THE BOARD OF SUPERVISORS
OF SAN BERNARDINO COUNTY
AND RECORD OF ACTION
August 5, 2025
FROM
REBECCA SUAREZ, Interim Director, Department of Risk Management
SUBJECT
Title
Ratification of the Execution of Initial Binding Orders Needed to Renew the County’s Exporters Package Portfolio, Accidental Death and Dismemberment Insurance, Inland Marine and Heavy Equipment Insurance, and portions of the Cyber Liability Insurance
End
RECOMMENDATION(S)
Recommendation
1. Ratify the execution of the initial binding orders to renew the following layers of the County’s Cyber Liability Insurance Program for the one-year period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026:
a. The secondary layer of $5,000,000 in excess of the $5,000,000 primary layer, for a premium of $519,858 with Munich Re Syndicate 457 at Lloyd's.
b. The third layer of $5,000,000 in excess of the $10,000,000 first and secondary layers for a premium of $415,300 with Berkley Assurance Company.
2. Ratify the execution of the initial binding order to renew the County’s Exporters Package Portfolio with $1,000,000 per occurrence and aggregate limits for a premium of $2,875 with ACE American Insurance Company (CHUBB) for the one-year period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026.
3. Ratify the execution of the initial binding order to renew the County’s Accidental Death and Dismemberment policy - Hazardous Workers with $100,000 per occurrence and $4,000,000 aggregate limits for a premium of $10,500 ($3,500 annually) for the three-year policy period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2028, with Arch Insurance Co.
4. Ratify the execution of the initial binding order to renew the County’s Inland Marine and Heavy Equipment insurance policy with coverage for the full replacement value of scheduled vehicles with a premium of approximately $660,000 with Public Risk Innovation, Solutions, and Management Insurance Company (PRISM) for the period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026.
5. Authorize the Chief Executive Officer or the County Chief Financial Officer to execute, on behalf of the County, any subsequent binding orders, documents, or quotes necessary to approve mid-term change orders for additional coverage, not-to-exceed 10% over the actual renewal cost, per insurance program and premium, for the period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026, for recommendations Nos. 1, 2, and 4, and for the period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2028, for recommendation No. 3, subject to review by County Counsel.
(Presenter: Rebecca Suarez, Interim Director, 386-9024)
Body
COUNTY AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER GOALS & OBJECTIVES
Operate in a Fiscally-Responsible and Business-Like Manner.
Pursue County Goals and Objectives by Working with Other Agencies and Stakeholders.
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Approval of this item will not result in the use of Discretionary General Funding (Net County Cost). The total aggregate premium of approximately $1,608,533 will be paid by the Department of Risk Management’s (DRM) liability funds and will be recovered through the Board of Supervisors (Board) approved rates charged to County departments and Board Governed Special Districts. Sufficient appropriation and revenue have been included in DRM’s 2025-26 budget.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
On November 16, 2021 (Item No. 62), the Board approved contracts with four insurance brokers, including Gallagher. Risk Management contracts with multiple brokers to leverage the experience each holds in specific markets. For fiscal year 2025-2026, Gallagher approached new and existing markets for quotes, to align current County needs for the period of July 1, 2025 through July 1, 2026.
The County’s brokers, Alliant Insurance Services (Alliant) and Arthur J. Gallagher (Gallagher), engaged multiple insurance carriers in the market on behalf of the County and initially recommended carriers for Cyber, Accidental Death and Dismemberment policy, Hazardous Workers, Exporters Package Portfolio and Inland Marine, although they continued searching for better options up until the expiration of the policies.
On June 10, 2025 (Item No. 109), the Board approved the renewal of Cyber Liability Insurance and Exporters Package Portfolio for the period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2026. After this item was approved by the Board, the County’s insurance broker identified the same coverage with different carriers for the County’s second and third layers of coverage and recommended a change in carriers for these policies to achieve a premium reduction of approximately $174,000.
On June 10, 2025 (Item No. 109), the Board approved the renewal of the Accidental Death and Dismemberment Policy- Hazardous Workers, with a premium of approximately $5,406 with Arch Insurance Co. for the three-year period of July 1, 2025, through July 1, 2028. The original Board item did not clarify that the estimated premium of $5,406 was an annual estimated amount for the three-year period. The County’s insurance broker was able to negotiate a policy with the same coverage for an actual premium cost of $10,500 for the three-year policy, or $3,500 per year.
On June 18, 2025 (Item No. 85, Recommendation No. 1c) the Board approved Hanover Insurance Company as the insurance carrier for the Inland Marine Insurance policy. After the item was approved by the Board, the County’s insurance broker continued negotiating with insurance carriers and identified Public Risk Innovation, Solutions and Management insurance company (PRISM) as a more suitable carrier with the same deductibles, but with $154,000,000 limit compared to a $10,000,000 limit offered by Hanover.
On June 30, 2025, the County Chief Financial Officer executed the binders with the new carriers to avoid a lapse in coverage until these items could be considered by the Board. Approval of this Board item will ratify the execution of these documents by the County Chief Financial Officer.
PROCUREMENT
Not applicable.
REVIEW BY OTHERS
This item has been reviewed by County Counsel (Laura Feingold, Chief Assistant County Counsel, 387-5455) on July 10, 2025; Purchasing (Jessica Barajas, Supervising Buyer, 387-2065) on July 10, 2025; County Administrative Office (Victor Tordesillas, Deputy Executive Officer, 387-4717, and Anja Jacobsen, Executive Administrative Analyst, 387-9647) on July 14, 2025; and County Finance and Administration (Jenny Yang, Administrative Analyst, 387-4884) on July 18, 2025.