At USA Risk Group, we know captive insurance can feel complex. That’s why we’ve gathered answers to the questions brokers, CFOs, and business owners ask most often. Whether you’re just learning about captives or ready to explore your options, this guide will help you get clear, practical answers.
A: A captive is your own licensed insurance company, created to insure your business’s risks. Instead of paying premiums to commercial insurers, you control coverage, costs, and long-term stability.
A: The process includes a feasibility study, choosing a domicile (U.S. or international), regulatory approval, and ongoing management. Most captives take 3–6 months to establish.
A: No. While Fortune 500 companies were early adopters, many mid-sized companies use captives today to control costs and manage risk more effectively. Read more on our blog, How BIG Does My Business Need to Be to Form My Own Captive?
A: For the ideal captive candidate, we generally look for companies that have hard-to-place risks or a strong emphasis on risk management, resulting in lower-than-average loss ratios. However, almost any entity with sufficient scale can form a captive, including government entities and non-profit organizations.
A: Manufacturing, healthcare, construction, transportation, and professional services often find captives especially valuable — but any business with consistent risk exposure may be a candidate.
A: The first step is a captive feasibility study. This analysis helps determine whether your risk profile, premium spend, and goals make a captive a good fit.
A: Captive insurance companies can take many different forms:
Single-Parent Captives – owned by one business for its own risks
Group Captives – shared by multiple companies
Association Captives – formed by industry groups
Cell Captives – flexible “rent-a-captive” structures
A: No. Captives can be formed in the U.S. or in international domiciles. USA Risk Group supports U.S. domiciles, including Arizona, Missouri, Nevada, North Carolina, Ohio, South Carolina, Puerto Rico, Tennessee, Texas, and Washington, D.C., and international domiciles, including Alberta (Canada), Barbados, British Virgin Islands, and Cayman Islands. We’ll help you evaluate which is the best fit.
A: Premiums rise for many reasons — market cycles, claims history, or broad carrier trends. For some businesses, a captive offers more cost control and stability.
A: Captives let you retain predictable risks instead of paying them away, while customizing coverage to your needs. This control is often what draws CFOs and risk managers to explore captives.
A: Traditional self-insurance puts all risk on your balance sheet. A captive is a regulated, structured alternative that provides formal coverage, compliance, and access to reinsurance markets.
A: Captives don’t replace brokers. In fact, we often partner with brokers to offer clients an additional tool when the commercial market doesn’t fit.
A: It depends on the domicile and structure. Minimum capitalization can range from $100,000 to several million. We’ll help you understand requirements early in the process.
A: That’s where an independent captive manager like USA Risk Group comes in. We handle compliance, reporting, accounting, and operations, so you can focus on running your business.
Talk to the captive experts at USA Risk Group, an award-winning independent captive manager.
/White__cica-logo.png "White__cica-logo"){kind=logo}
/White__Captive-Review.png "White__Captive-Review")
We help companies spend their insurance dollars more wisely so that they are better positioned to achieve their financial goals. We do this by first learning what their company’s financial goals are, as well as current insurance coverage, risk management strategies and claim history. Then we determine whether forming a captive insurance company for the organization will help improve cash flow and control expenses.
[fa icon="phone"] 1-802-371-2281
[fa icon="envelope"] pmacey@usarisk.ky
[fa icon="home"] PO Box 1085, George Town, Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands KY1-1102
