The North Carolina Department of Insurance has released its 2019 end-of-year report for its Captive Insurance Program and the numbers show the state continues to be an attractive home for new captive insurance companies.
As of Dec. 31, 2019, the NCDOI has licensed (including provisional) 318 captive insurers and approved (including conditional) 592 cells and series. There were 682 risk-bearing captive insurance entities under the regulation of NCDOI by the end of 2019, including 235 active captive insurers and 447 active cells or series. In 2019, the NCDOI licensed 26 new captive insurers and approved 61 new cells.
The 235 captive insurers were comprised of the following:
Pure captive insurers: 178
Protected cell captive insurers: 29
Risk retention groups: 8
Special purpose captive insurers: 20
2020 is proving to be another positive year for the program. Since Jan. 1, the NCDOI has already licensed two pure captive insurers and approved two cells. Also, three additional license applications and one new cell business plan are under review for approval.
North Carolina is a captive insurer domicile leader as a result of its modern captive laws and the benefits provided by its program.
The captive insurance company program celebrated its sixth anniversary in October 2019 following the 2013 enactment of the North Carolina Captive Insurance Act, which is legislation that provides for the formation and operation of captive insurers in the state.
Captive insurance is a form of self-insurance through which a business may form its own insurance company to insure its risks. Potential benefits of captive insurance include reduced insurance costs, stabilized pricing, customization of policy terms and conditions to meet the needs of business, and the ability to obtain coverage that is not readily available or is too costly in the commercial market.
The licenses granted to captive insurers domiciled in North Carolina are both new insurer formations as well as the transfer of other captive insurers. The insurers are primarily writing property and casualty lines of business, but a growing number of captive insurers are providing medical stop loss coverage.
The NCDOI recently announced that the Fortune 500 company, W.R. Berkley Corp., formed a captive insurer in North Carolina to support the group medical stop loss program of Berkley Accident and Health.
To learn more about the state’s captive insurance program, Commissioner Mike Causey, Chief Deputy Commissioner Michelle Osborne, and the entire NCDOI captive regulatory team will be participating in the upcoming North Carolina Captive Insurance Association Conference May 13-15. It will be held at the Washington Duke Inn and Golf Club in Durham, N.C. Registration information for this event will soon be available on the association’s website at https://nccia.org/event/nccia-2020-annual-conference/. You may also contact Senior Deputy Commissioner Debbie Walker at Debbie.Walker@ncdoi.gov. or visit www.nccaptives.com.