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Show r Insurance agent ignites tempers of So. Davis Fire District officials company before any major claims arc filed We've got to act fast, said SDFD Board of Directors Chairman Jake Simmons. Td hate to see a big claim come in and not have adequate ade-quate insurance coverage." Because of the board's lack of trust in Schroader and his associates, associ-ates, the district will be soliciting bids from other insurance com- panies and make a decision June 1. "I'm not sure we want to have (Schroader Insurance) submit a bid," Simmons said. "They don't seem to have our interests in mind" By SCOTT SLMMERILL BOUNTIFUL, - The South Davis Fire District (SDFD) could be sitting on a financial land mine that, if it explodes, could leave the tightly budgeted department scrambling under the weight of insurance in-surance claim litigations. SDFD board members invited the district's insurance agent, Fred Schroader of Schroader Insurance, to explain why they had not been informed about the district's carrier, Lloyds U.S., being in financial trouble. Lloyds U.S. is presently under regulator control because the Texas-based company's financial situation would make it "highly unlikely" they would be able to pay a major insurance claim. Schroader had underwritten the SDFD contract with Olympus Insurance In-surance and was apparently unaware of the instability of Lloyds U.S. However, Olympus representatives represen-tatives said they had heard about it in late April and had simply not gotten around to all the accounts. "I have 66 accounts," the Olympus Olym-pus representative claimed. "I tried to contact you, but I don't remember re-member what order I did it in." SDFD accountant Allan Lowe said he had received news of the company's dilemma from a competitor com-petitor insurance agent and contacted con-tacted Schroader. "I caught them totally off guard," he said. "I don't trust these guys. They've lost all their credibility. They're supposed to be taking care of us, and they didn't contact us even a month after they knew what was going on. ' The problem with insurance doesn't place SDFD in violation of its responsibility (the company is still operating). But, if a major claim should be filed against the district, they could find themselves tied up in litigation trying to collect payment from a defunct company. Schroader's associate said they could put the district on a policy with another company, Great American Insurance Company, which would cost an additional $2,000 to $3,000 for the remainder of the year. The SDFD board must now decide how to obtain adequate coverage with a solvent insurance |