PROPERTY CONTROL MANUAL - ADJUSTMENTS AND INSURANCE RECOVERIES TO REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY - CHAPTER 9
  State of Connecticut
Office of the State Comptroller
 

PROPERTY CONTROL MANUAL

This page last updated on September 8, 2021.

Chapter 8

ADJUSTMENTS AND INSURANCE RECOVERIES TO REAL AND PERSONAL PROPERTY


Questions regarding this chapter should be directed to the following:
Daria Cirish, SIRMB 860-713-5223 daria.cirish@ct.gov
Asset and Inventory Mailbox   osc.assets@ct.gov
Elizabeth Daly, CPPA 860-702-3436 elizabeth.l.daly@ct.gov 
Fiscal Policy Statewide Services 860-702-3437  

This section of the Property Control Manual establishes procedures for the notification and reporting of all adjustments to State property as required by the Office of the State Comptroller and the Department of Administrative Services State Insurance and Risk Management Board (SIRMB). Also included are procedures for handling and reporting accidents involving State-owned vehicles and third party losses.

Authority
Pursuant to Section 4-33a of the Connecticut General Statutes, "Illegal, irregular and unsafe handling of state funds", the Comptroller and the Auditors of Public Accounts must be notified immediately of all losses/damages to State property upon discovery even though they may not be covered under the current insurance programs.

The following procedures are in effect for reporting purposes depending upon the type of claim being filed:

Report of Adjustment to State Owned Real and Personal Property (CO-853)

Use Form CO-853 to report all adjustments including losses or damages to real and personal property other than vehicles pertaining to theft, vandalism, obsolescence, expired or spoiled, criminal or malicious damage, lost or misplaced funds, missing property (cause unknown) or damages caused by wind, fire or lightning, impairment, data breaches, losses of intangible assets, any security breach or to document the removal of any asset or inventory item that is not retired or surplused and items recovered. This form can be found on the Office of the State Comptroller's website: /span> http://osc.ct.gov/agencies/forms/index.html.  Please complete the on-line form and send the form to the email addresses below.

Office of the State Comptroller: osc.co-853@ct.gov 

Auditors of Public Accounts: donna.g.moore@cga.ct.gov 

DAS-Insurance and Risk Management: eileen.mcneil@ct.gov 

Complete all required information as outlined in Appendix B and make the proper electronic distribution as indicated on the form. In addition to the required distribution, if the loss or damage appears to have been caused by criminal action or under mysterious circumstances, contact the Local Police Department or if applicable, local security division, i.e. campus police, capitol police, etc.

FFor missing property or property lost due to theft the item must be retired from the Core-CT Asset Management system or for non-Executive Branch State agencies, the applicable asset management system. For expired, spoiled or obsolete inventory, Core-CT inventory agencies must complete an adjustment to remove the item from the Inventory module.

Recovery of Lost or Stolen Property
If property is recovered the agency business office will return the recovered item(s) to the department that reported the loss if replacement has not been made or place the item(s) on the surplus property list for DAS/State and Federal Property Distribution Center if a replacement has been made. Agencies must complete a CO-853 form to document the recovery of the item. See Appendix B. If the recovered item has not been replaced, then it must be restored and added to the property control system. Executive Branch agencies will restore the item in the Core-CT Asset Module or in the Core-CT Inventory Module. Restoring the item to the Core-CT Inventory Module only applies to those agencies that use this module.

Reporting Accidents
Every accident involving a State owned vehicle is required to be reported to the Office of the State Comptroller. By completing and forwarding the DAS Vehicle Incident/Accident Report form linked to
fleet.accidents@ct.gov  for each incident involving either a DAS or agency-owned vehicle, this requirement will be achieved.

For information regarding DAS Fleet vehicles involved in accidents, call 860-713-5160. Any accident involving a state owned vehicle that causes damage or injury to a third party will be reported to the State's Third Party Administrator.

Losses Caused by Third Parties

Accidents
All third-party losses must be reported immediately to the agency head. When damages to an injured employee and State vehicle are due to the negligence of an outside individual, it should be recovered from the individual or his representative.

For Example: A State employee, driving a State vehicle, is in an automobile accident caused by a third party.

Procedure
The accident report must be completed and submitted as indicated above.

If the dollar amount of the loss/damage cannot be readily determined, the agency is responsible for obtaining an estimate of damage.

INSURANCE COVERAGE

Authority (all property) Pursuant to Section 4a-20 of the Connecticut General Statutes, the State Insurance and Risk Management Board determines "the method by which the State shall insure itself against losses by the purchase of insurance...to obtain the broadest coverage at the most reasonable cost".

In addition, this section also provides for the proper handling of insurance recoveries as follows: "Any refund, dividend or other payment from any insurance company in connection with insurance for the State shall be returned to the Comptroller for deposit in the general fund."

Basis for Insurance Coverage
The types of coverage and amount are based upon two factors:

The effective transfer of risk for a reasonable premium. The accurate valuation of all real and personal property with necessary detail by location.

In order that optimum insurance coverage is provided at a minimum cost, it is imperative that:

All losses/damages to State property are reported promptly; and Accurate property control records are maintained for operating and reporting purposes.

Types of Insurance Coverage
The State currently provides the following types of insurance protection:

  1.  Liability for selected exposures (Contract/condition of employment requirement or Statute).
  2.  Fire and extended coverage (Blanket property).
  3.  Automobile Fleet comprehensive and collision on selected vehicles.
  4.  Hull property coverage on selected vessels.
  5.  Boiler and machinery coverage (equipment breakdown).
  6.  Works of Art and Historical Treasures coverage on selected articles.
  7.  Statutory bonds for all state employees, Constitutional Officers and Commissioners.
  8.  Property coverage is provided in the following areas (subject to applicable policy limitations):
    1.  State-owned buildings and premises.
    2.  State-owned contents (including cash) in buildings both owned and leased by the State.  
    3.  Personal property of employees in the care and custody of the State (not included as primary insurance).  
    4.  Equipment owned by other organizations (Federal Government, Leasing Companies, Student, Patient and Inmate Activity Funds, etc.) in the care and custody of the State. This is contingent upon the agreement between the State and the parties involved.  
    5.  State-owned property located off State premises.  
    6.  Selected motor vehicles.

Damage to State-Owned Vehicles

Insurance Information
The State of Connecticut is self-insured for the first $4,000,000 for fleet automobile coverage. There is an excess liability policy. The State's Fleet Insurance Program coverages are as follows:

A. Fleet Liability   The first $4,000,000 of each liability claim will be the responsibility of the State Insurance and Risk Management Board under a self-insured retention provision.     B. Collision   Collision coverage is not provided to the vast majority of State vehicles. Only vehicles of unusual nature or high value which are on record with the State Insurance and Risk Management Board prior to a loss are covered for collision. Additionally, vehicles which are contractually required to have collision coverage through lease agreements are covered for collision. Collision coverage for vehicles will be subject to a $ 50,000 deductible. For some vehicles the deductible could be more. The collision deductible will be the responsibility of each individual agency and will not be reimbursed by the State Insurance and Risk Management Board.     C. Comprehensive   Comprehensive material damage (physical damage other than collision) coverage is now provided on only those vehicles that have collision coverage. Upon review and analysis by the State Insurance and Risk Management Board, it was decided to provide comprehensive coverage on only those vehicles that are leased, are of unusual nature or high value. Damage to vehicles with no comprehensive coverage will be the responsibility of each individual agency. Those vehicles which still have comprehensive material damage coverage will be subject to a $50,000 deductible and the deductible will be the responsibility of the agency.

Claim Procedures
 The State Insurance and Risk Management Board will file all insurance claim forms based upon the information submitted.

Settlement of Claim
 When payment is received, the Office of the State Comptroller will notify the respective State agency business office in writing. The monies will be deposited in the following revenue account #44322 - Insurance Reimbursement - Other Losses.

Claims for Losses Caused by Third Parties

Claim Handling
 A claim should also be filed by the State agency against the liable third party. Any assistance, which may be required, will be provided by the Office of the Attorney General in the handling of the claim.

Settlement of Claim
 In those instances where the loss is not paid by the State's insurer, the agency will either receive payment directly from the liable third party or settlement will be made with the Office of the Attorney General if that office acted on behalf of the agency initiating the loss.

RECOVERY

Allotment of Recovery to Agency
State agencies may obtain the use of funds realized from an insurance settlement provided the following conditions are met:

The amount of the recovery is greater than five hundred dollars ($500); and The agency requires the use of the funds recovered to replace the loss.

The Allotment and Accounting Procedures
To obtain use of the amount realized from an insurance settlement, process an "Allotment Request Form", B-107. The date of the advice of insurance claim settlement and the deposit slip number are required on Form B-107. The special identification will be coded 18010 in all instances. Upon receipt of an approved Form B-107, the Office of the State Comptroller's Budget and Financial Analysis Division will record the allotment for special identification 18010. A record of the insurance recovery appropriation will be established on a "Control Account" basis; i.e., only one account per agency will be maintained.

Insurance recoveries must be used only for the repair or replacement of the property damaged or missing. An insurance recovery for one loss must not be combined with that of another loss. This is a restriction on the use of insurance losses that must be scrupulously observed by all concerned.

Each agency will be required to reconcile the balance in its 18010 account with the individual insurance recoveries and related expenditures. In addition, the agency must, upon completion of any insurance recovery repair or replacement project, report in writing to the Office of the State Comptroller the balance of the allotment which should lapse. If there is no balance remaining, no report is required.

Third-Party Recoveries
Upon recovery, the method of handling the payment received will depend upon the method the agency used to budget for third-party recoveries:

  1. If the total cost for the repair or replacement of a loss is a part of the agency's normal operational budget, then all third-party recoveries are to be deposited to Miscellaneous Income-Revenue Account # 44151.

  2.  If the total cost for the repair or replacement of the loss is not part of the agency's normal operational budget, then all third-party recoveries are to be deposited as either current or prior year refunds #44420 (current) or #44410 (prior years) in accordance with the rules for such deposits as outlined in the State Accounting Manual.

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