Public Officials Liability

What is it?
Public officials liability insurance provides coverage for damages or defense costs for claims against elected or appointed officials, employees, and volunteers. The type of claim that is generally made is for wrongful acts in the performance of their duties to a public entity. Despite governmental immunities or torts, public officials can be held liable for their actions while carrying out their duties.

Who needs it?
Public entities consisting of a variety of types of government bodies including local governments, special districts, housing authorities, and transit authorities need this coverage. Local governments include:

• Cities
• Towns
• Townships
• Boroughs
• Villages
• Counties

Special Districts or special/single-purpose government units can include:

• Water & sewer utilities
• Irrigation districts
• Hospital districts
• Fire & EMS districts
• Commissions and special boards
• Parks & recreation departments

What does it cover?
Potential exposures can result from federal, state, and employment practice violations. These exposures include, but are not limited to:

• Alleged errors & omissions
• Misstatements & misleading statements
• Negligence or breach of duty

Public officials coverage protects not only the individual public official or employee, but also provides coverage for the public entity itself if brought into a suit.

Public Officials Bonds

What is it?
A public official or surety bond provides a financial guarantee against loss that the official duties of an office will be faithfully performed according to the law during a specific term of a specified office.

Who needs it? 
A public official is someone who is accountable to the public. Therefore, any public official handling money, overseeing budgets or handling financial matters and making decisions for a city or other public entity should be bonded. State or local statutes as well as public charters may require that a public official be required by law to furnish a surety bond in order to perform his or her job.

Why is it needed?
The duties of a public official are explained in the state statutes, city statutes or public charters. Should a public official fail to meet their obligations of their job duties and a loss ensues, the public official responsible has the obligation to pay back the public for any loss, regardless of how the loss occurred.

The public official bond does not pay losses in place of the public official. The bond only guarantees that, should the public official be unable to financially meet their obligations from the loss, it will pay in their place up to the face value of the bond.