I-RE relaunches RE-PAID, its captive proposition, refocusing the product on US businesses paying between US$1 million and US$10 million in premium with five-year loss ratios below 40 per cent. The re/insurance underwriter and captive specialist says the segment is too small to justify a pure single parent captive but too large to be satisfied by a group captive, which delivers premium savings but little flexibility or control. Clients invest collateral into their own single parent captive under RE-PAID and become their own reinsurer, taking on a limited amount of risk, and gain influence over the handling of their claims. Collateral does not stack, and clients renew their insurance and take on reinsurance risk annually. Premiums remain consistent and brokers continue to earn commission. As part of the relaunch, I-RE increases its commercial property primary limit to up to US$20 million and its general liability limit to up to US$5 million, and adds an excess facility for both lines. It also extends its structured service to move brokers and clients from enquiry through to captive formation, and has built a website. I-RE is a broker-only market, underwriting US insurance programmes and operating a reinsurance company in Bermuda. Andy Jeckells, co-founder of I-RE, says: "There's a large, ambitious segment of the market that's been overlooked: businesses paying $1m to $5-10m in premium, with hundreds of thousands of them across the US. That's why we've refocused RE-PAID entirely on this segment, rebuilding it around the investment and ROI language its owners think in, rather than the premium savings driving smaller businesses, or the 'total cost of risk' approach used by big business." Jeckells adds: "These businesses are not big enough to stand alone, but they're big enough to want the flexibility and control a group captive can't offer. Single-parent captives have traditionally been too complex and costly for them, weighed down by fronting fees, stacking collateral and reinsurance arrangements that stop making sense below $5-6m of premium." I-RE says the average annual return on investment for RE-PAID clients paying between US$1 million and US$5 million in premium has been 37 per cent. The figure covers the underwriting year ending April 2025, with each client underwritten individually and premiums varying by risk, claims experience, captive risk appetite, expenses and claims incurred.
