The Schools Insurance Association of Washington (SIAW) was formed in 1995 with seven founding school districts. SIAW is a property and liability risk pooling program for school districts with enrollments in excess of 2,000 students. This program was designed to address the insurance issues larger school districts face and provide them with a viable insurance alternative. SIAW currently includes nearly 40 school districts. There is an eight member board, elected by the membership, which governs the program. SIAW's focus is to keep rates affordable for its members while providing excellent services to help keep losses to a minimum. This philosophy allows members to keep more of their money in the district where it can do the most good.
Program Administrator
SIAW contracts with Clear Risk Solutions for day-to-day administration of the program. In addition to SIAW, Clear Risk Solutions developed and serves as the program administrator for the Cities Insurance Association of Washington (CIAW), the Non Profit Insurance Program (NPIP), the United Schools Insurance Program (USIP), and the Washington Rural Counties Insurance Program (WRCIP). Clear Risk Solutions has over 30 years of experience providing pool administration, underwriting, claims adjusting, and risk management services.
Program Features
- Reinsurance Coverage: SIAW self-insures losses that are manageable and predictable. Reinsurance coverage is purchased to protect the members against catastrophic claims.
- Aggregate Stop Loss Coverage: SIAW purchases aggregate stop loss coverage to protect the pool assets against an abnormal frequency of claims in one year. This coverage minimizes the risk of any retroactive assessments, if the liability losses exceed the amount budgeted and collected from the membership.
- Risk Management: SIAW offers a comprehensive range of risk management and loss control services. By reducing claims through membership education, overall insurance costs are reduced.
- Claims / Litigation Management: Through the SIAW program administrator, claims are adjusted and handled in-house. Aggressive third-party adjusting is enhanced by their awareness of the individual needs of the membership. Members are included in the planning process and are vital to litigation or settlement discussions.
- Broad Coverage / Competitive Cost: SIAW aims to provide the broadest coverage available to school districts. Controlling costs and providing stable rates throughout unpredictable insurance cycles is paramount to SIAW. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce losses through on-site risk education and sound fiscal management, eliminating large insurance cost fluctuations.