Crisco wins expansion of captive insurance incentives

State Sen. Joseph J. Crisco Jr., D-Woodbridge, Senate chair of the legislature’s Insurance and Real Estate Committee, won legislative approval this week for his continuing work to make Connecticut more receptive to the nations’ captive insurance industry.  

Crisco’s latest initiatives were included in one of the state budget implementation bills approved during Tuesday’s Special Session.

Captive insurance is an emerging strategy for financial risk management in business, in which companies, groups of companies, or associations form subsidiaries specifically designed to protect and insure the assets of the parent company, group, or association.

“As more and more business entities find it more and more difficult to secure traditional insurance coverage these captive insurance arrangements are growing in popularity, and I want to be sure Connecticut is receptive to this emerging industry in terms of its regulatory climate,” Crisco said. “I’m pleased to have received legislative support for the revisions included in this week’s budget implementers.”

Crisco said this week’s legislation eliminates the state’s separate, non-lapsing account dedicated to captive insurance-related fees and assessments and simply directs that revenue to the state’s general Insurance Fund.

“The more we can streamline our state regulations specific to these types of reinsurance strategies the more likely we are to attract new business and capital to our state from this growing sector,” Crisco said. “Connecticut has become more receptive to captive insurance companies because legislation enacted last fall underscores our intention to expand the definition of ‘Insurance Capital of the World’ into this new part of the industry, and this week’s success continues that trend to promote economic development and generate jobs and revenue.”

Crisco said the captive insurance option for companies is likely to become more and more popular because in-house premiums are often lower and likewise, in-house claims procedures are often less complicated and time-consuming.

The above information is from a release from Crisco's office.