Cape Girardeau County chooses a new insurance carrier for county buildings

On the first business day after Friday's deadly tornadoes ripped through portions of the Missouri Bootheel, Arkansas, Illinois and Mayfield, Kentucky -- in the latter's case, heavily damaging the Graves County Courthouse -- the Cape Girardeau County Commission decided Monday to switch property insurance carriers for its government buildings.

The commission voted unanimously to accept Selective Insurance's bid for the 2022 calendar year -- leaving Cincinnati Insurance, which had covered the county's structures for most of the last decade.

Doug Mueller, executive vice president of W.E. Walker-Lakenan Co., acting in his capacity as an insurance broker, recommended the commission change to Selective after providing an extensive review of the benefits offered by each company.

"Selective's annual premium is a little more than Cincinnati's but Selective quoted a higher total replacement value for the buildings," said Mueller, who also said Selective offered a 10% deductible on earthquake claims compared to 15% for Cincinnati.

Selective's annual premium is $222,446.50, while Cincinnati's bid to keep the county's business came in at $222,129.89 -- a difference of $316.61.

Mueller also said the new insurer had more favorable terms for the currently vacant old county courthouse in Jackson, first built in 1908.

"Cincinnati was going to be more restrictive on the vacancy and Selective will be much more lenient in terms of giving the county better coverage during the time the historic building is empty," he said.

First District Commissioner Paul Koeper commented renovation of the historic courthouse should be underway by the middle of next year.