Barton County selects risk management and insurance provider for 2025

Strong storms tend to cover areas larger than the size of a single building. That forced the Barton County Commission's hand Tuesday morning when selecting a risk management and insurance provider for operational year 2025. County Administrator Matt Patzner explained the difference in $250,000 wind and hail deductibles from KCAMP/KWORCC and Copeland Insurance.

"The big difference between the two is that is per location for Copeland," he said. "For KCAMP, that is per incident. So if there was a big hail storm that came through that touched a lot of buildings that are within the same vicinity, that deductible would apply to the entire event instead of a location."

Copeland Insurance came through for the county last December when a previous provider announced it would no longer cover the county in 2024. The bids presented for 2025 were separated by just $3,421, but Commission Pro-Tem Chairwoman Tricia Schlessiger said it came down to deductibles.

"In the premium dollars, it's very, very comparable," she said. "But when you look at the coverage and where we would have just one deductible, it's just really hard. It's really hard because one hail storm could change the entire claim dramatically."

KCAMP, which covers 79 counties in Kansas, will handle risk management. KWORCC, which coverers 85 of the 105 counties in the state, will handle worker's compensation claims. The commission approved a total bid of $413,424 for the coverage after paying $589,289 last year.