Clallam County staff and consultants presented a detailed briefing Nov. 3 on the Washington Counties Risk Pool renewal and proposed 2026 insurance-rate options, saying the pool faces rising liability payouts driven by long‑latency sexual‑abuse/molestation (SAM) claims and other large losses.

The presentation described the pool's multilayer structure: the pool typically covers initial losses (the presentation stated "the pool is self insured for the first 0 to $3,000,000 of claims"), with Safety National and other carriers covering successive excess layers and additional markets providing higher-level reinsurance. County staff said Old Republic exited the market in October 2023 after premium receipts were insufficient to cover incurred losses, and newer carriers show mixed loss/premium profiles that are tightening capacity and raising prices.

Why it matters: commissioners were told actuarial models show the pool's combined premiums and expected payouts put pressure on reserves. Staff cited roughly 130 SAM claims the pool is managing and said recent filings have materially increased projected payouts. The pool's 2025 projection, staff said, would fall below the regulatory minimum unless the pool strengthens its balance; that regulatory shortfall drove the discussion of premium and retention tradeoffs.

Staff presented four broad premium/layering options and their estimated effects on the pool's 0–$20 million bands and on total premiums. The figures given to the board showed the pool's current all‑layers premium near $16.2 million; Option 1 (presented as the lower‑cost alternative) raised that total to about $19.4 million, while more comprehensive options ranged higher (the highest illustrative option approached $23.6 million). Staff also gave a base rate example of $2.276 per worker hour under current terms and noted higher per‑worker rates under some proposals.

After discussion of tradeoffs — higher premiums to buy down retained risk versus accepting larger self‑insured bands to keep premium growth smaller — commissioners and staff agreed to pursue the lower‑cost Option A to keep the pool slightly above the regulatory minimum while the pool implements mitigation steps and pursues legislative and actuarial remedies. Staff emphasized that the pool is also pursuing non‑rate measures, including a legislative steering committee that would explore limits on joint‑and‑several exposure where no negligence is proven and expanded predefense review programs intended to reduce claim costs.

Local impacts and county measures: presenters urged continued local mitigation (jail accreditation, inmate health monitoring, predefense review) and greater county engagement with the pool's committees and actuarial processes. Clallam County staff reported six open county claims (about two involve personnel matters), said two of those claims are moving toward dismissal, and disclosed that two county claims are set for trial in January. Staff asked finance to expect final invoices once the pool completes its billing calculations; the county had budgeted a 20% planning assumption across insurance lines but staff said the mixture of a sizable liability increase and a large property reduction could leave net budget impacts smaller than that planning assumption.

The county's next steps will include receiving the pool invoices when finalized, updating the finance office and continuing county participation in risk‑pool committees and predefense review efforts.

Source: Presentation and discussion at the Nov. 3, 2025 Clallam County work session.