Summer 2014

THE CAPTIVE JOURNEY

Hello from the captive front. As we head into summertime, it is this time of year that tends to set the stage for the remainder of the year from a captive perspective as each captive prepares for their final board meeting of the year and plans for 2015. When looking at the first 5 months of 2014, the C&B Group Captives have continued the new member record setting pace of 2013. It looks like 2014 may well be the best year ever for new member additions to C&B Group Captives which speaks loudly to both the performance of each captive and the idea of owning a captive insurance company. The message coming from the recent new members on why they decided to join a group captive continues to be centered around the following:

Pricing integrity – there doesn’t seem to be any rationale for the pricing that companies see in the traditional marketplace. They are being priced based on how the insurance company performs and the underwriting decisions that they make. They want to know their partners, to have a voice in the decisions that are made and for their premiums to be based more on their own individual loss experience.

Safety services – they are either not getting any help or the type of help that is needed in the area of safety to improve their performance. This is the key to driving down losses and thus the premium that a company pays over time.

Claims handling – they are tired of not being included in the process that weighs heavily on how much their insurance premiums are. We continue to hear many stories of companies not knowing a claim has settled and for what amount until they see it on a loss run. A better result is almost always achieved by including the company in the claims process.

The above items are the backbone of the C&B Group Captive Model. We take great pride in helping our captive customers understand the “cloak and dagger” of the insurance transaction. After all, our captive customers do own their own insurance company. It is important to the overall success of the member and the captive that each and every member participate in the running of the captive. Until next time.

Mark Fitzjerrells Sr. Vice President of Captives & Programs Cottingham & Butler, Inc.