North Carolina Rooted in as a Leading Captive Insurance Domicile

North Carolina flag waving in blue sky

April 06, 2018 |

North Carolina flag waving in blue sky

Now in its fifth year of operation, North Carolina's captive insurance company program has established itself as a leading domicile for captive insurance companies. Since the North Carolina Captive Insurance Act was enacted in October 2013, the North Carolina Department of Insurance (NCDOI) has licensed 248 captive insurers and approved 437 cells and series.

As of April 5, 2018, 635 risk-bearing captive insurance entities are under the regulation of NCDOI, including 232 active captive insurers and 403 active cells or series. The 232 active captive insurers encompass the following.

Pure captive insurers 180
Protected cell captive insurers 26
Risk retention groups 6
Special purpose captive insurers 20

North Carolina attributes the growth of the program to the formation of new captive insurers and the transfer of other captive insurers to this state from other US and offshore domiciles. Although the growth of small captive insurers continues to be strong, North Carolina is also seeing an increase in the licensing of larger captive insurers and risk retention groups.

These insurers are primarily writing property and casualty lines of business; however, the NCDOI continues to see an upward trend in the formation of medical stop loss captive insurers. Other lines of business written by recently formed North Carolina captive insurers include tenant liability, surety, commercial auto, and warranty liability insurance.

The 2017 NCDOI captive insurance economic impact study is anticipated to be released in May 2018. The purpose of this study is to determine the favorable financial impact of the captive industry on the state's economy.

Learn more about North Carolina's captive insurance company program, or contact Senior Deputy Commissioner Debbie Walker at (919) 807–6165.

April 06, 2018