D.C. Grants Second Captive License

By Caroline McDonald

NU Online News Service, Jan. 31, 10:35 a.m. EST?The Washington D.C. Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation said it has licensed Columbia Group Insurance, Inc., a pure-captive insurance company, as the second captive for the District.

CGII's sponsor, Columbia Group Insurance Trust, is being formed to provide commercial insurance coverage to USA-IT, Inc., American Construction and Engineering Services, Inc., Premier Management and Consulting, Ltd.

The department said that others getting coverage through the new captive include several real estate limited partnerships, which are affiliated to the sponsor company CGIT through common ownership, beneficial ownership or control, according to the Department of Insurance and Securities Regulation.

CGII intends to issue corporate reimbursement policies, difference in conditions policies and professional liability policies to these entities in an effort to provide coverage for exposures that are either uninsured or excluded under the insured's current traditional insurance program, the department said.

The District's first captive, American Captive Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of NCRIC, Inc., which is a medical professional liability insurance company, is a sponsored captive licensed in April, 2001.

Though neither of the captives are association captives, the District's focus is still on trade associations in the D.C. area, said Kathryn Westover, captive advisor to the D.C. Department's Captive Insurance Division.

The Department, she said, is actively meeting with associations to "see how they can help them use captive insurance to better serve their membership."

The response so far, she said, has been "very excellent. They've had some meetings with a professional association of trade association executives and they are beginning to look at developing structures that can help association members manage, not only property-casualty risks, but also employee benefit risks."

A captive insurer is a form of self-insurance in which a corporation or association organizes an insurance subsidiary to insure itself or it's members. Captive insurance companies serve the insurance needs of the parent organization without the uncertainties of commercial insurance availability and cost.

Washington D.C. Commissioner of Insurance and Securities Regulation Lawrence Mirel said, in a statement, that his Department "is pleased to license the first pure captive insurance company in the District of Columbia.

"The Captive Act of 2000 opened the door to the District becoming a viable captive domicile. With CGII and other captives slated to come on board in the next year, we see captives as an opportunity for the District of Columbia to diversify its economic base."

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D.C. Grants Second Captive License

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