RESOURCES TO HELP YOU MANAGE YOUR BUSINESS
WHAT IS A CAPTIVE?
A captive insurer is typically defined as an insurance company that is wholly owned and controlled by its insureds. The primary purpose is to insure the risks of its owners by pooling your resources. This helps you avoid the hard and soft cycles of the insurance market where premium can fluctuate independent of your loss experience. Each insured or member, benefits from the captive insurer’s underwriting profits.
Any insured who purchases/joins a captive insurance company must be willing and able to invest its own resources into the captive. Then each insured in a captive insurance company not only has ownership in and control of the company but also benefits from its profitability. Once you join you are committed to the captive for one policy period but they ask that you plan to stay at least 3 years in the captive market to fully learn and understand how captives work.
To purchase in or join a captive, Insureds purchase stock for their ownership. This investment is used in part to pay claims for losses during the period. Using a captive puts the insured outside the typical regulated insurance market. Insureds take more ownership of their risk control and work to minimize losses to their company.
The typical buy into a captive can be large investment depending on your type of business. We have experience in working with captives and can provide you with more information.