About USIP
The United Schools Insurance Program (USIP) was originally formed in 1985 under the name of the Eastern Washington School Districts Insurance Group (EWSDIG) with 34 founding school districts. USIP is a property and liability risk pooling program for school districts with enrollments of less than 5,000 students. This program was designed to address the insurance issues of small to medium size school districts and provide them with a viable insurance alternative. USIP currently includes over 150 members. There is a nine member board, elected by the membership, which governs the program. USIP’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.
Relationship with Clear Risk Solutions
USIP contracts with Clear Risk Solutions for day-to-day administration of the program. In addition to USIP, Clear Risk Solutions developed and serves as the pool administrator for the Cities Insurance Association of Washington (CIAW), the Non Profit Insurance Program (NPIP), the Schools Insurance Association of Washington (SIAW), and the Washington Counties Risk Group (WCRG). Clear Risk Solutions has over 40 years of experience providing pool administration, underwriting, claims adjusting, and risk management services.
Program Features
- Reinsurance Coverage: USIP self-insures losses that are manageable and predictable. Reinsurance coverage is purchased to protect the members against catastrophic claims.
- Aggregate Stop Loss Coverage: USIP 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: USIP 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 USIP 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 decisions.
- Broad Coverage / Competitive Cost: USIP aims to provide the broadest coverage available to school districts. Controlling costs and providing stable rates throughout unpredictable insurance cycles is paramount to USIP. The ultimate goal of the program is to reduce losses through on-site risk education and sound fiscal management, eliminating large insurance cost fluctuations.