“The success of any public-sector community is clearly tied to its ability to protect and preserve its human and physical assets.”

This philosophy, posted on the web site of Public Risk Insurance Agency (PRIA), the public-entity division for Brown & Brown Insurance, provides marching orders for serving Florida's myriad public-sector insurance clients. PRIA is headquartered in Lake Mary and has an office in Tallahassee.

Florida Underwriter spoke with PRIA's Executive Vice President Anthony “Tony” Grippa following this year's repeat hit by the forces of nature that brought damage and budget challenges to clients across the state.

Q. Has your phone been ringing off the hook with governmental clients frantic to know what these recent disastrous weather events will mean for them in the near future?

A. Most clients realize that their rates will be affected. They want to know that their agent is exhausting all resources and utilizing all forms of risk management to keep costs as low as possible. Accurate budget projection is very important. We spend significant time with our clients in developing budget figures and in obtaining insurance products that meet those budget numbers.

Q. In an era of local government receiving less funding from the federal level, “protection of assets” must be ever more crucial to their viability. How are you able to help?

A. One of the most important things we do for our clients is managing and disclosing their exposure to loss. Some exposures are best handled by self insurance, while others can be efficiently transferred to an insurance product.

We recently reduced the workers' compensation insurance deductible for the city of Gainesville and reduced the premium by $300,000. We provide Citrus County with replacement-cost coverage for their fire trucks instead of actual cash value.

Q. You provide public entities with environmental coverage – tell us some examples in Florida where that has served clients especially well.

A. The public entity pollution liability program has provided custom coverage for local governments at an affordable premium. Many of our insureds have suffered environmental liability losses ranging from chlorine gas leaks to fuel spills. We have a custom policy in place for the St. Johns River Water Management District that provides pollution liability coverage resulting from “controlled burns” of natural lands.

Q. Given our state's historic reputation for being “buggy,” talk about municipalities' need for mosquito control coverage.

A. Government entities provide a unique service in attempting to control our natural environmental conditions. For this service, they need unique insurance coverage and risk- management assistance. Providing the right insurance product (with no spraying exclusions) at the most competitive premium is paramount.

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