Arena to seek new insurance proposals

WILKES-BARRE TWP. – The board that oversees Wachovia Arena on Thursday threw out insurance coverage proposals from its current brokers and will advertise for new ones.

Joyce Insurance of Pittston tried to make a grab for most of the Luzerne County Convention Center Authority’s insurance coverage, which is handled by Eastern Insurance Group in Plains Township.

But an Eastern representative said Joyce’s proposal is not an “apples-to-apples” comparison to coverage his group already provides because Joyce based its bid on specifications in the authority’s 2006 request for insurance proposals.

Joyce has been providing errors and omissions insurance for the authority since it formed. Eastern has been providing all other policies, including property, general liability, auto, umbrella and flood for nine years.

Both were allowed to prepare bids on the latter coverages after Joyce expressed an interest in doing so, said Carrie Grantuskas, the arena’s director of finance.

Joyce’s bid was $94,335; Eastern’s was $115,351. Current premiums total $148,461.

William Joyce said his proposal provides the same coverages the arena had last year and attributed the premium drop to a softer market and more aggressive competition.

Edward Miller of Eastern said Joyce’s quotes are based on specifications that are “old (and) outdated” because the authority’s coverage has become more extensive. Miller said his proposal would provide $25 million in flood, surface water or mudslide coverage as well as business interruption coverage while Joyce’s would provide $500,000 in (flood insurance) coverage, subject to a deductible, and no business interruption insurance will apply. “Before you make a final decision just based on premiums, give it to a third party to take a look at and look at all the coverage forms,” Miller said.

New board member Dave Palermo asked why the board listed specifications that were less comprehensive than the current coverage. Grantuskas said insurance bids are normally sought every three years and the board had not planned to request proposals again until 2009. Because Joyce requested information on the policies, she sent out the 2006 bid proposals and the authority’s current coverages. It was Joyce’s choice to base a proposal on old specifications, she said.

After an executive session, the board voted unanimously to throw out the current proposals and advertise based on new bid specifications. Proposals are due July 16.

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Board tosses coverage proposals from current brokers, Joyce Insurance and Eastern Insurance.

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