Captive Insurance

LarryC

Do any of you belong to an insurance captive group? If so, what has been your experience? We are studying the possibility of requesting admittance into a captive and I would like some more feedback from anybody who has experience in one. Thank you.

TN HR

I've looked at them in the past. It's been several years though. What I recall is that they seemed to cater strictly to similarly-situated groups. Almost like trade organizations. Depending on the industry, the risk may be too big and thus the cost is not usually competitive with mainstream insurers. There is also the question of financial stability. When I researched captives, most were selective about the lines they would insure. None would take the whole book of business. Most were also re-insured several times over by foreign-held entities. Because of their structure, etc, traditional raters like AM Best or Standard and Poor usually don't rate, whcih may be scary.

Again, it's been some time since I looked at them, and things may have changed significantly.

Gene

LarryC

Thanks for your input, Gene. We would probably look at entering a heterogeneous group of a range of industries. Also they would book all the insurances that we presently carry: property, liability, commercial auto, and work comp. We would have to get our umbrella on our own. You are still right about them being based "off shore". I'll be looking at that a little closer.

nietra

Our trade organization has been offering this for a few years. We are a human services company and the insurance companies aren't knocking at our door to insure us.

We joined this past July on recommendations from others and have been happy so far. The agent that holds the majority of the accounts is very active in helping with policies/procedures/safety trainings that will lead to lower claims.