Captive insurance, properly designed.
A captive can reduce total cost of risk for the right employer — when it's structured around the risk, not around a tax outcome. We evaluate qualification, design the program, and manage it for the long term.
What a captive actually is
A captive is a licensed insurance company you own — formed to insure risk that would otherwise sit with a commercial carrier (or worse, sit unfunded on your balance sheet).
For employers with predictable claim history and meaningful premium spend, a captive can convert a recurring expense into a managed asset. Underwriting profit and investment income stay with the captive, not with a third-party carrier.
A captive is not a vehicle for everyone. We qualify employers before we recommend one — and we'll tell you when the answer is no. Tax treatment depends on individual circumstances; consult your tax advisor.
Two tax elections. Different employers, different programs.
Section 831(a)
Standard captive election
- Premium limitNo premium cap
- Who qualifiesLarger captives with sustained premium volume and broader risk pools
- Tax treatmentUnderwriting income and investment income taxed at corporate rates
- Best fitEstablished employers with significant premium and a long-term risk-funding strategy
Tax outcomes depend on your specific facts — consult your tax advisor.
Section 831(b)
Small captive election
- Premium limitPremiums under the annual statutory cap (currently approximately $2.65M, indexed)
- Who qualifiesMid-market employers with controlled risk diversification and an active risk-management posture
- Tax treatmentCaptive taxed only on investment income; underwriting income excluded if requirements are met
- Best fitEmployers with stable losses, real risk to insure, and the appetite to operate a captive properly
Eligibility and tax treatment depend on your facts and IRS guidance — consult your tax advisor.
Four steps from evaluation to ongoing management.
01
BRA evaluates your risk portfolio
We review every line of risk — health, workers comp, GL, auto, cargo, errors and omissions, cyber, and any other policies in force. We build the picture of total cost of risk before we recommend anything.
02
We design the captive structure
Retention levels, reinsurance placement, fund structure, and governance. We model what the program does to your total cost of risk under realistic claim scenarios.
03
Benefit Re houses the captive
Benefit Re is HLG's licensed insurance carrier. The risk sits on regulated paper — not on your balance sheet, not on a paper carrier nobody's heard of.
04
Ongoing management
Accounting, auditing, regulatory compliance, investment management, and TPA claims services coordinated with MBA TPA. You get one point of contact for the whole program.
Everything required to run a captive properly.
Risk lines we evaluate in the BRA Report
- Employee health and welfare benefit plans
- Workers compensation
- General liability
- Auto liability
- Cargo liability
- Errors and omissions / malpractice liability
- Cyber liability
- Other policies currently in force
BRA designs. Benefit Re holds the risk. MBA TPA administers.
A captive only works if every layer is in place — design, regulated paper, and administration. We have all three under one roof through Health Logistics Group.
Want to see if a captive makes sense? Start with the BRA Report.
Free, no-obligation evaluation of your full risk portfolio. We tell you whether a captive is appropriate before we tell you anything else.