TOM MONTGOMERY, NGU RISK MANAGEMENT
The June issue of InTrust announced that effective July 1, 2016 the TNRMT fidelity and crime coverage limit was increased to $400,000 per occurrence to satisfy the new state law that allows an option for TN counties and schools to replace ALL their public officials’ bonds (both blanket and statutory) with a single blanket fiduciary bond.
Over the past several months, we have discussed this with many of our TNRMT members, and most have opted to drop their old public officials’ bonds, saving local governments and schools hundreds, if not thousands of dollars annually. Of course, the option remains to continue the purchase of bonds under the previous statute if you wish.
As always, change creates discourse that calls for confirmation. Some individuals in the insurance industry asked for clarification which resulted in a request for an Attorney General’s opinion to settle the discussion. Not surprisingly, the Tennessee Attorney General confirmed that the law is as clear and simple as it appears, and accomplishes just what it intended. Therefore, our original discussion in the above referenced InTrust article remains accurate and you may feel confident in continuing to exercise the option allowed in the new bond law as previously advised.
Below is a link to the Attorney General’s opinion of 8/22/2016.
https://www.tn.gov/assets/entities/attorneygeneral/opinions/op16-031.pdf
The previous InTrust article on the new bond law:
http://www.tnrmt.com/news/16-06-20.php
Please feel free to contact us to discuss this at your convenience
Tom Montgomery
NGU Risk Management
615.822.5454
tmontgomery@ngutn.com