Town of Kaplan drops property insurance coverage

KAPLAN - The town of Kaplan is rolling the dice and hoping that nothing major happens to its buildings in the near future.

At Tuesday's city council meeting, the aldermen were informed by Kaplan Mayor Mike Kloesel that the town's insurance provider has dropped coverage and the town does not have any property insurance coverage, because the town cannot afford to pay the yearly insurance cost.

Mayor Kloesel educated the aldermen about the rise in insurance premiums for property insurance and how the town's insurance broker contacted 23 insurance companies looking for coverage.

The Mayor said 22 of the 23 insurance companies contacted refused to cover the town by either not calling back or telling the town they were uninterested.

The one company that did respond gave a quote of $80,000 to insure the town's buildings, and that is just for fire.

"That is telling us they do not want our business," said the Mayor about the high quote. "We can not afford that cost, yet we need insurance."

In 2021, the town paid $35,000 for fire, wind and hail coverage on all buildings.

In 2022, the premium rose to $45,000, only for fire coverage, dropping hail and wind damage. The town's deductible was $100,000.

In 2023, the company that had insured the city refused to insure Kaplan again.

In the Mayor's five years of being in office, not once had the town filed a property insurance claim, but the town was still dropped by their current provider.

The Mayor did say there is a company, Risk Services Insurance, that has agreed to look into providing property insurance for the town but the company needed more information on the buildings.

The Mayor was hoping they could insure the town's buildings for around $45,000. However, finalizing a quote would take 30 to 45 days, thus leaving the town with no property insurance.

"So far, we have been lucky," Mayor Kloesel said. "I have gone to bed three nights in a row, worrying that we do not have some kind of insurance."