Freetown Select Board Drops Insurance Broker After 18 Months of Service Failures

FREETOWN — June 16, 2025 — Freetown Select Board votes to switch primary insurance broker, citing chronic service failures. The board voted unanimously Monday to award the town's fiscal year 2026 insurance contract to USI, replacing incumbent broker Mia after Town Administrator Lori Pina said she had spent 18 months trying to resolve repeated service problems, including items being left off policies. Injury-on-duty coverage for first responders, currently held with Chubb, was carved out of the switch due to the administrative complexity of transitioning first-responder records on short notice; health insurance through Blue Cross Blue Shield also stays with Mia after USI could not obtain a quote. The board additionally approved a three-year contract for Police Chief Scott Rose through June 30, 2028, a $11,000 fixed-fee survey agreement with Merrill Engineers and Land Surveyors for the accident-prone Four Corners intersection, and authorized negotiations with Johnson Roberts Associates, Inc. for design of a new combined Council on Aging and library building — the Seaway Library Committee's top-ranked firm.