Liability Insurance's Skyrocketing Costs Confound Districts

By Julie Blair

District officials embarking on shopping trips to their insurance agencies this winter had better take along smelling salts: Over the past year, the cost of liability insurance has skyrocketed, many of the longtime vendors have quit the market, and those that do remain are requiring policyholders to shoulder more risk.

Shop until you drop, experts advise, but don't be surprised to see rates rise anywhere between 20 percent and 200 percent this year. They blame the changing market on the flagging economy, the blow to the insurance industry's financial footing on Sept. 11, and an increase in lawsuits involving school districts.

Such hikes in liability-insurance costs come as many districts are also getting walloped by double-digit increases in health-insurance premiums. ( "Districts Hard Hit By Escalating Costs of Health Coverage," ...