Liability Insurance

Municipalities may be held liable for substantial amounts of money for Bodily Injury or Property Damage claims of others, resulting from accidents occurring on their property, or for which they are responsible. Even if a Municipality is not found to be responsible for a claim, the cost to defend the Municipality can still be a substantial sum.

The Liability Self-Insurance Plan (LSIP), was started in 1987 and provides comprehensive General Liability Insurance, along with Environmental Liability coverage, Excess Automobile Liability coverage and Errors and Omissions coverage, among others, to participating Municipalities, their councils, employees, appointees and volunteers. LSIP generally covers all activities a Rural Municipality can legally be involved in, with very few exceptions. 

Currently, there are 282 rural municipalities out of 296 participating in this plan.

Since 1993, SARM has partnered with an outside Insurer to provide Municipalities participating in LSIP with options to purchase excess limits of liability coverage to supplement the limits provided by the Plan, in order to meet the needs of each Municipality’s unique needs and risk exposures.

Claims

LSIP Participants are encouraged to submit all claims to SARM, even those that may be less than their deductible, so that coverage can be determined and so that any information that may be needed can be gathered at the early stages of a claim or potential claim. A claim could be in the form of a letter from an individual, their lawyer or their insurance company, stating they have suffered damages and believe the RM is responsible, or a Statement of Claim or other notification indicating that a legal action has been commenced.

As most claims are for vehicle damage resulting from the alleged disrepair of municipal roads, we have developed a Claimant Report that an individual may use to make a liability claim against a Rural Municipality. The form is not required by LSIP, however, it can be used as a way for the individual to provide the initial information to make their claim. Please note, when a Municipality provides this form to an individual, they should not admit any liability for their claim nor promise any payment. They should simply be advised that the RM has liability insurance and their claim will be forwarded to the RM’s insurer for further handling.

For more information, visit Members Only

Contact

Colin Warnecke, Manager of Risk Management
cwarnecke@sarm.ca or 306.761.3946