By Dave Bos, LARM Executive Director
The League Association of Risk Management (better known as LARM) is celebrating its 30th anniversary of pooling in 2025. We are proud that over 235 Nebraska governmental entities trust us with their risk management and insurance needs.
It all began in the 1980s, when insurance rates were skyrocketing, and municipalities were faced with incredibly high premiums or having their policies canceled altogether. Traditional insurance companies didn’t want to take on a city's unique risks. A famous Times magazine cover in 1986 read, “Sorry, America, your insurance has been canceled.” Simply put, traditional insurance companies no longer saw municipalities as a good risk, and a solution was needed to provide them with necessary property, liability, and workers’ compensation coverages.
The League of Nebraska Municipalities (commonly known as the League) conducted a study after recognizing that Nebraska communities were in trouble with limited insurance carriers and available coverages. Working with elected and appointed officials across the state, the League created a risk management pool in which governmental entities could pool their funds together and self-insure. LARM was formed and began operations in 1989 as an endorsed insurance program that included risk management services for municipalities.
LARM received its official pooling certificate from the State of Nebraska in 1995 with thirteen municipalities as members. At that time, LARM operated as a property and liability group self-insurance pool. In 1997, LARM began offering workers’ compensation, and the pool started growing. By 2014 there were 67 members, and at the end of 2024, there were 235 LARM members from across the state.
LARM is governed by 15 board members made up of elected and appointed officials chosen at an annual meeting by the LARM membership. There are eight full-time LARM staff members, with the main office located in Lincoln.
Our board members and staff are very proud of LARM’s reputation for excellent customer service as we put a very high priority on assisting our members with every aspect of their risk management and insurance needs. LARM also takes pride in providing top-notch loss control, claims, and valuation services. We are always only a phone call away if a member has any questions about a claim or their coverage.
LARM is not a traditional insurance company, and we make getting to know our members a priority, which allows us to better anticipate their needs and assist them in any way we can. For example, in 2018, we started offering a $500 Lean on LARM safety grant each year for members to purchase items like barricades, first aid kits, and gas monitors to help make their employees and communities safer. We have received many positive stories about how items purchased with the use of these grant funds have assisted in reducing or preventing innumerable injuries, property losses, workers’ compensation claims, and liability claims.
In 2019, LARM created the LARM Armor grant that provides $700 each year towards the purchase of body armor for member police departments.
When floods hammered the state in the spring of 2019, LARM offered $1000 to members who had their offices, streets, and parks damaged by flood waters.
No one will soon forget when COVID-19 was widespread in our communities. During the pandemic, LARM created a program that offered $120 a day for ten days for any individual volunteer fire or EMT member who had to stay home due to quarantine requirements after being exposed to the virus on an emergency call.
On a daily basis, LARM loss control specialists travel the state, assisting members with safety training and giving them resources for their staff. We regularly send our members safety articles and newsletters and provide free in-house training on safety topics as needed or requested.
LARM continues to grow. In 2023, we added 18 new members, and we welcomed another 21 new members in 2024. We also retain our members. In the last ten years, we’ve had a retention rate of 99%. New members often mention that the reason they looked into LARM is because of the great things they had heard about us from their neighboring communities.
Speaking on behalf of all LARM staff, we are very thankful to be able to provide the risk management and insurance services needed for so many Nebraska communities these past 30 years and we look forward to providing them with the same top-notch coverages, competitive pricing, outstanding customer, claims, loss control and valuation services for many more years to come.
