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HomeMy WebLinkAboutCC Resolution 7617 (Insurance Consulting)RESOLUTION 7517 A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE SIGNING OF A CONTRACT WITH INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INC. THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SAN RAFAEL RESOLVES as follows: The MAYOR is authorized to execute, on behalf of the City of San Rafael, a contract with INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INCORPORATED for liability claims administration, a copy of which is hereby attached and by this reference made a part hereof. I, JEANNE M. LEONCINI, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of said City held on Monday, the 21st day of September, 1987, by the following vote, to wit: AYES: COUNCILMEMBERS:Breiner, Frugoli, Nave, Willm, & Mayor Mulryan NOES: COUNCILMEMBERS:None ABSENT: COUNCILMEMBERS:None JF NE_M. LEONCII�'I , City Clerk SELF—INSURED CLAIMS MANAGEMEI' AND LOSS CONTROL CONSULTING CONTRACT THIS CONTRACT is made and entered into this 21�qt day of September , 1987, by and between the CITY OF SAN RAFAEL, hereinafter referred to as the City, and INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INC., hereinafter referred to as the Claims Administrator. INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INC. is licensed in California to provide independent adjusting services. Its State License number is 0607524. It is a California Corporation with Home Office located at 410 Petaluma Boulevard South, Petaluma, California 94952; Telephone number: 707/778-1118. The Corporate Officers are Ronald Blanquie, President; Michael Craig Patterson, Executive Vice President; Daniel A. Blanquie, Vice President—Operations. IT IS HEREBY AGREED by and between the parties signing this Contract. as follows: I. GENERAL The City desires to have a unified claims management and loss control service. INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INC. is a Claims Management and Consulting firm experienced in providing the requested services and is ready and capable to perform such services for the City. II. SERVICES The Claims Administrator will assist the City in the management of the City's liability claims program. The Claims Administrator will receive from the City notice of cases which the City wishes to handle in—house and will record those cases for Loss Run tracking purposes as described later in this Contract. The Claims Administrator will receive from the City those cases for which the City desires assistance in investigation, recommendations, negotiations, settlement, reserving, and litigation management. Unless advised in writing by the City that it should not handle a specific case as outlined below, the Claims Administrator will initiate prompt investigations and attempt to secure the cooperation and confidence of claimants and their attorneys. The Claims Administrator will provide reports to the City with respect to issues of fact, damages, and liability. It will provide recommendations with respect to courses of action regarding settlement authority as provided by the City. The Claims Administrator will negotiate with claimants and their (1) .{ ,_- attorneys with the goal of securing a mutually—acceptable resolution to any claim. The Claims Administrator will attempt to resolve cases without litigation. If assignment of a case to defense counsel is necessary, the Claims Administrator will make the assignment on behalf of the City utilizing counsel selected by the City. Absent direction from the City to the contrary, the Claims Administrator will attempt to secure open or limited extentions of time on cases which it believes are likely to be resolved more quickly, efficiently, and economically in that manner. The Claims Administrator will receive and review all expense billings related to pending cases which it is handling and, before issuing payment on the City's Liability Trust Account, will secure any necessary supportive documentation. Copies of all statements and invoices which are paid by the Claims Administrator on the City's Trust Account will be forwarded to the City along with check copies. Releases of All Claims will be obtained from all claimants receiving settlements from the City through the Claims Administrator, though the City will be responsible for obtaining appropriate Releases on settlements which it has negotiated and for which the Claims Administrator may be requested to issue a check. The Claims Administrator will perform Loss Control Analysis and Consulting services for the City in a manner and to an extent agreed upon. The Claims Administrator will make itself available for scheduled claim reviews with City Management. The Claims Administrator will provide to the City a monthly Loss Run of pending cases which are being handled by the Claims Administrator or, upon receipt of information from the City, which are being handled in—house by City personnel. The various Summary sections of the Loss Run will include financial data and claims inventory data concerning closed claims. The Claims Administrator will encourage cooperative activity amongst any other firms providing administration or consulting services for the City. (2) III. PAYMENT FOR SERVICES The annual Computer Services Fee is $2.400.00. That fee covers the cost of computer hardware, space on the system, and production of the Loss Run Summary, Register, and Claims Analysis Reports. The Fee is due in full at the inception of the contract, though, for the convenience of the City, payments of $200.00 per month may be made toward any remaining balance. All activities related to the handling of specific claims and to the providing of consulting services will be billed on a Time & Expense basis, as follows: Professional Services *Based exclusively on time of investigative, supervisory and management personnel. No additional charge, except as provided below, for routine secretarial, telephone, insurance, or office overhead. Allocated Costs Local Travel Photocopy Color Photography (35mm) Statement Transcription Posting Costs Necessary Expenses Computer Programming Costs $49.00 per hour* .40 per mile .30 per page 1.75 per print 15.00 per hour As Incurred As Incurred As Incurred The Claims Administrator shall submit Statements on a monthly basis showing an itemized breakdown by claim or by consulting activity. Billings are payable upon presentation, with any unpaid item being subject to a late charge of 1% per month imposed on the next billing cycle. There will be no charge for the Claims Administrator's time in reviewing and/or responding to the City concerning incident reports which do not involve any of the following factors: o investigation by the Claims Administrator, &/or; o contact with potential claimants or their attorneys, &/or; o formal claims having been presented to the City, &/or; o data entry into the Claims Administrator's computer (3) The Claims Administrator will enter data as provided by the City into the Claims Administrator's computer on cases which the City is handling in-house. A file Opening charge of $22.50 per file will be charged in the same manner as if the Claims Administrator were to handle the case. While there will be no charge for the Claims Administrator's Claims Manager to review the initial materials submitted by the City to the Claims Administrator concerning cases which the City is handling in-house, and while there will be no charge for the Claims Manager to prepare the computer input forms at the time of file opening or to have an initial discussion with the City Attorney's Office regarding reserves which the City wishes to establish, any additional services by the Claims Administrator for review, discussion, or limited investigation of City -managed claims will be billed at the Professional Services Rate listed above. IV. TERM The term of this agreement shall be one year beginning September 10, 1987, and terminating at midnight, September 9, 1988. This Contract may be terminated by either party for any reason upon thirty (30) days written notice. The Contract may be renewed subject to renegotiation of terms and conditions. V. INDEPENDENT CONTRACTOR It is expressly agreed between the parties signing this Contract that the Claims Administrator shall have the status of an Independent Contractor and shall not be deemed to be an officer, employee, or agent of the City. VI. OWNERSHIP OF FILES It is agreed that the claims files maintained in the Claims Administrator's offices are the property of the City. They may be reviewed by the City upon reasonable notice and, upon termination of this Contract, possession of the files will be transferred to the City which will pay the reasonable costs of any activity associated with the transfer including, but not limited to, the cost of photocopying in whole or in part any and all claims files as required for the Claims Administrator to be in compliance with any law pertaining to the maintenance of records by a licensed adjusting firm. (4) VII. HOLD HARMLESS A110 INDEMNIFICATION Each party hereto agrees to indemnify, hold harmless and defend the other, its officers, agents, and employees from and against any and all claims, demands, liability, costs and expenses of whatever nature, including court costs and counsel fees arising out of injury, death or loss to any person or persons, or loss of, or physical damage to, any property resulting in any manner from the willful acts, or negligence of either party, its agents, employees, licensees or guests in the making or arising out of the performance of this agreement. In the event it is determined by settlement or litigation that there is a joint liability and/or responsibility of the parties for the settlement or judgment, the parties hereto agree that the responsibility for payment of such settlement or judgment shall be borne by the parties in proportion to the share of fault as determined by the court or jury in case of a judgment, and by agreement, or arbitration in the event that agreement cannot be reached, in the case of a settlement. The parties further agree hereunder that in those cases described under this paragraph each said shall bear its own costs and attorney fees. VIII. INSURANCE The City and the Claims Administrator are aware that the Claims Administrator presently carries $1,000,000 in errors and omissions, bodily injury, personal injury, and property damage liability insurance and carries statutory Workers Compensation coverages. The Claims Administrator is unable in the current insurance market to make an unconditional promise to procure and maintain professional liability insurance after expiration of the present policy. The City and the Claims Administrator agree that as long as it is commercially feasible to do so, the Claims Administrator shall procure and maintain throughout the term of this agreement and provide evidence of such coverage in an amount not less than $1,000,000. The Claims Administrator agrees to advise the City promptly in the event that it is unable to obtain professional liability (5) coverage. In such an event, the City and the Claims Administrator each will have the right to invoke Section IV of this Contract, but without the necessity of providing thirty day's written notice. IX. DENIAL, COMPROMISE OR SETTLEMENT OF CLAIMS It is agreed that the Claims Administrator will not settle any claim within the City's Self—Insured Retention without having first received settlement authority from the City. Settlement authority may be conveyed orally or in writing. Likewise, it is agreed that the Claims Adminis— trator will not settle any claim above the City's Self—Insured Retention upon the authority of one or more of the City's excess layer insurors without having brought the proposed settlement to the City Attorney's Office for review by the City's Risk Management Group. The parties agree that the Claims Administrator incurs no liability to the City nor violates the language or the intent of this paragraph in the event that one or more of the City's excess layer insurors settle one or more cases without the active participation of the Claims Administrator. Absent specific instructions to the contrary from the City, the Claims Administrator is authorized to incur on behalf of the City defense costs including, but not limited to attorney fees, court costs, charges of court reporters, experts, technical analyses and reviews, medical examinations, and related items as are necessary or appropriate in the judgment of the Claims Administrator or the City's defense counsel for the proper defense of any case. Further, the Claims Administrator is expressly authorized to issue payment for such costs and for settlements and judgments utilizing a designated Trust Account which is funded and maintained by the City. X. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY It is mutually agreed by and between the parties signing this Contract that the Claims Administrator will provide services utilizing good faith efforts based upon its experience in claims management and consulting. The Claims Administrator provides no warranty, express nor implied, (6) that its services will result in any specific outcome for any case or any reduction in the frequency, severity, or cost of any liability claim(s) nor any incidents giving rise to claims, no matter how caused. It is further agreed that the Claims Administrator will assume no responsibility for the conduct of any activity related to any claim which is being handled in—house by the City. Those claims include, but are not limited to, cases which show the name of the City in the space for "Adjuster" in the Loss Runs. The Claims Administrator's involvement in such cases will be limited to entry of data, including reserves, provided by the City for inclusion into the Loss Runs. Likewise, the Claims Administrator accepts no responsibility for the appropriateness of reserves established by the City or for inadequacies in Loss Run data occasioned by inaccurate or insufficient information being provided by the City. U. ARBITRATION The City and the Claims Administrator agree to submit any claim arising under this agreement to binding arbitration pursuant to the current provisions of the California Code of Civil Procedure and any successor statutes. XII. RESPONSIBILITY FOR CLAIMS ADMINISTRATION FEES It is agreed that the City is liable for payment of all services rendered in accord with this Contract. Should the self—insured retention, the deductible, or the annual aggregate applicable to a particular claim or policy period be exceeded, the Claims Administrator's billings remain the responsibility of the City, and the Claims Administrator is expressly authorized to continue appropriate handling until it receives from the City express written instructions to terminate any involvement in the claim or grouping of claims. (7) XIII. TERMINATION OF SERVICES The responsibility of the Claims Administrator to provide any services terminates on the date that this Contract is terminated, whether or not that date is the scheduled date or is earlier or later. Should this Contract be terminated for any reason and should the City wish the Claims Administrator to continue to handle any aspect of any claim or grouping of claims, charges for any services so rendered will be billed at the rates then in effect. XIV. SPECIAL PROVISIONS It is agreed that the first twenty—four (24) hours of consulting services which the City requests to be performed by the Claims Administrator's Executive Vice President will be provided without charge. It is agreed that the Claims Administrator will impose no charge for special computer reports which are requested by the City and which do not require special programming. CITY OF SAN RAFAEL LAWRENCE E. MULRY N I'1a' or Date 1 Y Attest: JJF M. L NCI , City lerk Approved as to Form: JGAR 'RA HIANTI, City At�or7y INSURANCE CONSULTING ASSOCIATES, INC. i By: LL Date MICHAEL CRAIG PATTERS�N Executive Vice President (8)