--- title: Captives Ready to Help When Hard Market Returns description: Following one of the most costly natural catastrophe seasons in history last year, insurance buyers will likely experience rate increases. Risk managers and brokers can prepare by knowing the rate ceiling for a company, developing a risk profile and evaluating alternative risk transfer options. image: https://content.usarisk.com/hubfs/Stock%20images/PendulumSwing_600x260.jpg --- [![USARISK_Logo-white.png](https://content.usarisk.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Images/Logos/USARISK_Logo-white.png?width=1388&height=382&name=USARISK_Logo-white.png "USARISK_Logo-white.png")](https://content.usarisk.com/home) ![YouTubeImage.jpg](https://content.usarisk.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Stock%20images/YouTubeImage.jpg?width=2560&name=YouTubeImage.jpg "YouTubeImage.jpg") # USA Risk Group Blog & News ## [Captives Ready to Help When Hard Market Returns](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/captives-ready-to-help-when-hard-market-returns) May 29, 2018 8:10:00 AM - [Tweet](https://twitter.com/share) Change is coming. Following one of the [most disruptive and costly natural catastrophe seasons ](https://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2018/01/04/476093.htm)in history last year, insurance buyers will likely experience rate increases for 2018. Risk managers and brokers can prepare by knowing the rate ceiling for a company, developing an up-to-date risk profile to present to carriers at renewal and evaluating alternative risk transfer options.  #### **PLANNING AHEAD** Captives have always been at the core of an innovative risk management strategy, says [Pete Rasmussen](https://content.usarisk.com/peter-rasmussen), Vice President Business Development for USA Risk Group. But for companies who currently don't have a captive insurance company, changes in the soft commercial insurance market could adversely affect their bottom line with higher rates and possible disruption to coverage.   Risk managers and brokers have been paying close attention to speculation that [insurance costs are going to rise](https://www2.deloitte.com/us/en/pages/financial-services/articles/insurance-industry-outlook.html). Since P&C insurance [losses from 2017 were over $29 billion](http://www.businessinsurance.com/article/20180207/NEWS06/912319033/US-property-casualty-insurance-sector-to-see-2017-underwriting-loss-AM-Best), and CAT losses drove a large portion of that, property rates are expected to rise in early 2019. This will no doubt become a main driver for companies to review and reevaluate their coverage. Pete urges insurance brokers to take this opportunity to get ahead of the market shift with proactive planning because as he says, nobody likes competition sniffing around when it comes to presenting cost-saving options to clients. "With rising property rates it’s a great time to look at deductible buy downs or higher [SIR’s](https://www.irmi.com/term/insurance-definitions/self-insured-retention) to offset the increasing rates," Pete explained. "And our team can walk you through how a captive can be used to finance it."  **CALMING THE SWING  ** Insurance brokers looking to present options to clients who may be faced with either higher rates or a loss of coverage in the traditional market should look into [captives](https://content.usarisk.com/captives). Establishing one not only allows an organization to take control of their risk management but it can also manage exposures better while building potential cash reserves - thus stopping their rates from experiencing the soft market to hard market swing.  [Learning about captives](https://content.usarisk.com/captives) is a multi-step process, which is why we believe the first step is to schedule a free consultation call with our team. By reviewing the company’s goals, risk management strategy and claim history, we can quickly assess whether it makes sense to move forward. Plus, we work with brokers on nearly every account and can provide helpful info for them to share with their clients. Check out our [resources](https://content.usarisk.com/resources) for business leaders and brokers or schedule a consult call by clicking below.     Topics: [captive](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/captive) [insurance broker](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/insurance-broker) [insurance agent](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/insurance-agent) [soft market](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/soft-market) [2018 Rates](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/2018-rates) [captive management](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/captive-management) [hard market](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/topic/hard-market) ![USA Risk Group Communications Team](https://content.usarisk.com/hs-fs/hubfs/USARiskGroupLogo_BlogAvatar.jpg?width=100&height=100&name=USARiskGroupLogo_BlogAvatar.jpg) #### Written by [USA Risk Group Communications Team](https://content.usarisk.com/blog/author/usa-risk-group-communications-team) USA Risk Group is the independent alternative risk advisor with proven integrity and innovative ideas that has been taking insurance in a different new direction since 1981. Our communications team works directly with our company's leadership to ensure all news and updates about our organization and the captive industry are shared for all constituents. 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