Alabama licenses first captive

The Alabama Department of Insurance has licensed its first captive insurance company under legislation enacted in 2006 and signed into law by Gov. Bob Riley.

Chantilly Risk Management, which is located in Montgomery, is the creation of Automotive Aftermarket Association Southeast.

The legislation offers a limited-tax, limited-regulation marketplace above self-insurance to a wide range of commercial enterprises.

Alabama Insurance Commissioner Walter A. Bell said this could be the first of many. “We are seeing several condominium groups in the research and planning phase of forming captives. We look forward to licensing new captives this year,” Bell said.

The president and CEO of Automotive Aftermarket Association Southeast said the ability for his organization to recoup insurance dollars as a reinsurer of its own risk made sense to his board of directors.

“Our objective in establishing the captive was to take some of the volatility out of the reinsurance market and to recapture some of the dollars being spent for this coverage,” said Randal Ward, who also runs Chantilly Risk. “The captive helps us maintain and solidify our highly competitive member benefit programs already in place. Beyond that Chantilly Risk puts us in a position to consider new and creative approaches to meeting our member’s insurance needs.”