LAKELAND — Florida Conference churches will be paying the same for property and casualty insurance this year as they did last year and less for automobile insurance, according to Jim Severance, the conference’s risk manager.

“Part of it is competition. Part of it is we had a good loss year in 2002,” Severance said. “We didn’t have any large losses in 2002. We didn’t have another 9/11 incident or…hurricane.”

The competition was a five-month bid process that began in August. The Florida Conference’s Self Insurance Committee asked its current insurance broker, Arthur J. Gallagher & Co., and three other brokers to submit quotes.

Frank Furman, the Self Insurance Committee’s chairman, said the bid process put the burden on the insurance brokers to meet the Florida Conference’s expectations, including keeping the rate increase below 10 percent.

“We still have rates increasing in this market,” Furman said, adding he has seen some organizations facing more than a 100 percent increase in rates. “In today’s market it’s a very positive statement from our brokers that we were able to convince our [insurance] companies to hold the line on pricing.”

The committee narrowed its bid process in August when it asked Gallagher and Marsh USA to submit detailed bids.

Marsh was an option because of its size and reputation. “Marsh is a well-known, larger broker,” Severance said. “…the largest broker in the country, much larger than Arthur J. Gallagher. They would have more market leverage. You like to have a broker who does a lot of business with a lot of carriers. They also have a plan for religious programs…”

The committee decided in November to continue coverage through Gallagher because Marsh was unable to meet the conference’s specifications. Marsh wanted to more than triple the amount the conference self insures on each claim from $100,000 to $350,000.

In December Gallagher informed the Florida Conference that it would renew the insurance program for no increase, Severance said.

“Marsh didn’t respond the way we wanted them to,” Severance said. “The good news is we went into it with the expectation of an increase and that didn’t happen. We have a program that’s been effective for six years at a 0 percent increase.”

Severance said he expects the committee will repeat the competitive bidding process every five years, “unless we have an awful problem with our broker. It’s a lot of work.”

Furman said another benefit of the bid process was that it helped educate committee members. “It gave us the chance to broaden our knowledge and experience in the field,” he said. “We put in a lot of hard work…attending four meetings which lasted more than six hours each.”

One change the Self Insurance Committee made to the property and casualty insurance was to work with another claims adjustment company. The Florida Conference will no longer use Gallagher Bassett Services, associated with Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Claims will be handled by Cramer Johnson Wiggins & Associates.