Markets/Coverages: MGA Verve Launches Captive Insurance Product and Broker Portal

Verve Risk Services, the London-based managing general agent, announced the launch of a captive insurance product and its “Verve Aura” broker portal, designed to meet evolving customer needs.

Formed in 2016 and supported by OneAdvent, the specialist MGA services platform, Verve received investment from BP Marsh just over a year ago.

Verve provides professional and management liability solutions for insurance intermediaries and captives. The new product – Micro-Captive Defender – bolsters its offering within the insurance intermediary and captive space. In partnership with Michael Maglares & Co., the Ashford, Connecticut-based captive consultant, Verve’s new product provides captive insurance companies with defense cost coverage.

Scott Simmons, Verve director and co-founder and lead underwriter for the program, explained that the product includes coverage “for fines and penalties related to IRS investigations arising from 831(b) status, the exploitation of which has rocked the captive marketplace.”

[Editor’s note: Captive insurers that have made the 831(b) tax election have come under scrutiny from the IRS, according to Milliman, the actuarial and consulting firm. “Section 831(b) of the U.S. federal tax code allows an insurance company to pay taxes on their investment income only (as opposed to net income). As a result, quite a few captive insurance companies making the 831(b) tax election have been audited by the IRS for allegedly being set up not to provide insurance, but instead solely to achieve tax benefits,” Milliman said.]

In another announcement, Verve said it has spent the last 12 months developing its “Verve Aura” portal, which aims to streamline the way in which brokers can provide insurance to their clients.

“We wanted to make the system as easy to use as possible and improve the process of quoting, document production and invoicing,“ commented Alan Lambert, director and co-founder of Verve.