Customer service is key to attracting potential captive insurers to a particular jurisdiction, according to Leanne Refalko, senior captive insurance specialist at the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
Refalko, speaking at the North Carolina Captive Insurance Association Annual Conference in Charlotte, said the state department prides itself on giving great customer service that yields a high rate of redomestications.
“That is how we differentiate ourselves from other domiciles,” she explained.
“We had 25 redomestications in 2016 and it is essential for us to talk with captive managers and respond to them quickly. We just understand how important it is to provide that customer service to our captive managers.”
Patrick Theriault, managing director at Strategic Risk Solutions, identified self-procurement tax as one reason why captives might look to leave a jurisdiction in the first place.
Self-procurement tax is imposed on insurance purchased from insurers that are not authorised to do business in the particular state, which in many cases applies to captives.
Theriault said: “It is important to remember the tax applies to the insured, it is not a captive tax, meaning that a captive is never subject to self-procurement, it’s the insurance buyer.”