Is a Captive Right for You?

Are you one of your insurance company's BEST customers?

Great claims history
Excellent workplace safety program
Highly preferred overall risk

If you answered YES to all 3 of these, it may be time to exit the traditional market and enter a Captive program that rewards you accordingly.

During the last 20 years, Group Captives have been particularly attractive for many mid-sized companies that are looking for a better way forward.

By providing captive and alternative risk solutions, Horton offers clients an opportunity to take control in a variety of ways:

Control your costs – Eliminate those annual, automatic premium increases in the traditional market
Control your claims – Work with an independent third-party administrator to handle your claims that occur in the captive
Control your profits – In a captive, if you have a profitable year, that money comes back to you in the form of a captive distribution

Sample Testimonial

Thankfully, over 10 years ago, someone much smarter than me saw a shift to a captive insurance program as a great strategy, even though it was completely foreign to our company and industry. The road to gain acceptance into this program helped us improve upon a strong safety culture, and being actively engaged with others who share in our risks continuously drives safety to new levels. It is extremely gratifying to see our employees put in a full day and return home safely to their families. Even better is being able to share our distributions from strong performances with our families who made it possible.
If you don’t like improving your safety culture and don’t want a competitive advantage that can reward your employees, then a captive is not for you. But if your interest is peaked or even just curious, call Horton now.
- Ronald M. Guzior, CEO/President, Richards Building Supply

Pros and Cons: What Are the Benefits of the Horton Health Group Captive Program?

Group Captives are valuable strategic risk management tools – but not all captives are the same. Each one has its own characteristics and "personality," which reflects the preference of the members in that particular group.

Size

Group Captives can be as small as 10-12 members or as large as 300+. The Group Captives that Horton populates range in size between 20-50 members, which we feel is the captive sweet spot. They are large enough to have scale and stability, but small enough that every member of the captive has a voice and the group can remain close-knit.

Structure

Group Captives tend to be either Homogeneous groups or Heterogeneous in nature. Homogeneous captives may feature all trade contractors (as an example) while heterogeneous captives typically attract a more wide variety of risks (manufacturers, distributors, service providers, light contractors, miscellaneous).

Coverages Provided

The majority of Group Captives will provide members with insurance policies in three distinct areas – Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Automobile. It’s usually not mandatory for a member to place all 3 lines of coverage in the captive, but Workers’ Compensation is almost always included. Note that members will continue to purchase several other lines of coverage in the traditional market, including but not limited to Property, Umbrella/Excess, Pollution and Employment Practices Liability.

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Properly structured, there are many benefits of Group Captive Insurance:

Properly structured, there are many benefits of group captive insurance:

Opportunity for members to retain 100% of underwriting profits.

Captive Premium Breakdown

1/3 Fixed Expenses (majority earmarked for reinsurance and policy issuance)

2/3 Loss Funding (a captive member will keep this money, to the extent they do not need it for claims during the policy year)

Investment Income

Once loss funds (premiums) are paid, they sit in an investment account until needed for a claim. During this time period, the member will earn investment income on these funds. This is a significant source for profitability by insurance companies operating in the traditional market.

Insulation from the traditional market

A Group Captive uses an annual actuarial methodology to determine pricing. This eliminates the significant market swings that we often see in the traditional market. In a Captive, if you perform well, upfront premiums will go down over time, even if mainstream pricing is increasing for those not in a captive.

The Power of a Group

With captive insurance, the members purchase the necessary reinsurance as a group. Thus, you are able to utilize purchasing power and negate much of any negative trend occurring in the traditional market space. Additionally, you gain access to some of the safety and claims practices being practiced by dozens of above-average business owners/operators. Joining a strong Group Captive can take your company to the next level.

Captive Questions and Answers

Q – How large do I need to be to qualify for a Group Captive?

A – All Group Captives have a different appetite for the size of a new member, however, a standard rule of thumb is that you’ll want to have at least $250,000 in first-dollar (no deductible) premium in the following three lines of coverage, combined – Workers’ Compensation, General Liability and Automobile. A majority of Group Captive members tend to have captive premiums that range between $400,000 and $2,000,000.

Q – How much of my captive premium can I turn into a profit?

A – Most Group Captives operate with a fixed expense structure of about 32-35%. The remainder of your captive premium represents loss funding – for your expected claims. Therefore, if you experience very low claims in a given year, it’s very possible to get back more than 50% of your premium in the form of a captive distribution (i.e. profits).

Q – Will my premium in the captive be more or less than I’m paying today?

A – It depends. Most captive upfront premiums are fairly similar to what you’re paying today in the traditional market. So you might see a range of 10% less to 10% more. However, the real “savings” found by joining a captive will come via the captive distributions/profits that you realize in future years, if your loss experience is solid.

Q – Is it difficult to get into a captive?

A – It can be. All Group Captives are different.

Many require a significant qualifying process to gain entry, including approval from the reinsurance carrier and all current members.
Older, more established captives may decide to increase their minimum premium thresholds and require a new member to exhibit very low historical loss ratios.
On the flip side, a newer/smaller captive might be more aggressive and willing to lower underwriting standards (slightly) in an effort to grow.

Q – I heard that in a Group Captive everyone shares risk and you end up paying for a lot of claims from the other members?

A – One of the elements contained in all group captives is that the members will share some risk with one another. In a well-run Group Captive, that number will end up representing about 2-5% of the total premium. Be sure to avoid captives where it exceeds 10% on a regular basis.

Q – Can you be assessed in a Group Captive?

A – Yes, there is the potential for assessments in any Group Captive. It’s a fundamental and necessary part of the captive structure. However, in a strong and healthy Group Captive, this does not happen very often. In a typical year, about 10-15% of the captive members in a given group will receive an assessment. It’s also important to note that a quality Group Captive will cap the maximum assessment for every member, and this number is known upfront.

Talk to a the Captive Practice Leader

Jason Wallace

Executive Vice President | Captive Practice Group Leader / BIO

Whether the next idea originates from a new captive concept, a strategic acquisition, or taking the Healthcare Practice to the next level, Jason thrives on keeping The Horton Group on top and always pushing for more.

Patrick Johnson

Executive Vice President / BIO

The most important concept that Patrick Johnson tries to communicate when meeting with existing and potential clients is the difference between price and cost.

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Group Captives