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3. The city may be required by contract to carry higher coverage limits. Occasionally, a contract <br />might include a requirement that the city carry more than $1,200,000 of coverage limits. <br />Carrying excess coverage is a way to meet these requirements. (There's also another option for <br />cities in this situation. LMCIT can issue an endorsement to increase the city's coverage limit only <br />for claims relating to that particular contract. There's a small charge for these "laser" <br />endorsements.) <br />4. There may be more than one political subdivision covered under the city's coverage. An H}ZA, <br />EDA, or port authority is itself a separate political subdivision. If the city EDA, for example, is <br />named as a covered party on the city's coverage and a claim were made that involved both the <br />city and the EDA, theoretically the claimant might be able to recover up to $1,200,000 from the <br />city and another $1,200,000 from the EDA, since there are two political subdivisions involved.. <br />Excess coverage is one way to provide enough coverage limits to address this situation. Another <br />solution is for the H1ZA, EDA, or port authority to carry separate liability coverage in its own <br />name. <br />This issue of multiple covered parties can also arise is if the city has agreed by contract to name <br />another entity as a covered party, or to defend and indemnify another entity. <br />5. Cities sometimes choose to carry higher coverage limits because of a concern that the courts <br />might overturn the statutory liability limits. However, those limits have now been tested and <br />upheld several times in Minnesota. While it's always possible that a future court might decide to <br />throw out the statutory limits, this is now less of a concern. <br />What excess liability coverage limits are available? <br />Excess coverage is available in $1 million increments, up to a maximum of $5 million. <br />Does the optional excess coverage apply to all types of claims? <br />No. The excess liability coverage does not apply to the following types of claims: limited pollution, <br />mold, failure to supply utilities, auto no-fault, uninsured /underinsured motorist, workers <br />compensation, disability, or unemployment claims, or claims under the medical payments coverage. <br />We're just a small city. Isn't excess liability coverage really just something that big <br />cities might need? <br />Absolutely not. If anything, excess liability coverage is even more important to a small city. <br />If a city ends up with more liability than it has coverage, the city will have to either draw on existing <br />funds or go to its taxpayers to pay that judgment. A large city faced with, say, a million dollars of <br />liability over and above what its LMCIT coverage pays might be able to spread that $1 million cost <br />over several thousand taxpayers. The small city by contrast might be dividing that same $1 million <br />cost among only a couple hundred taxpayers. $1 million divided among 5000 taxpayers is $200 <br />