It is scary to learn that the majority of policy makers do not know what Captive Insurance is and the ways a Captive can aid businesses.  Do you ever wonder if there is anything you can do to stop the propagation of bad information about Captives pushed by critics?

SIIA Has Led Advocacy Efforts for Captives

Much has changed in the world of captives taking the 831(b) election since their formation in 1986. The Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc. (SIIA) plays a major role in shaping the direction of the industry and prioritizes:

• Educating Congress Members
• Preventing bad policy decisions and destructive legislation and regulation
• Encouraging open and clear dialogue about Captives

SIIA is focused on reducing onerous requirements such as those imposed by Notice 2016-66 and the receipt of IRS letter 6336 and has taken the following steps to address concerns:

• SIIA has been in conversations with the White House
• SIIA sent a letter to the IRS and Treasury about burdensome, costly, and ill-timed requests on March 30, 2020. Here is a link to the full letter.

The advocacy efforts of SIIA has led to the following accomplishments:

• The IRS removed Captives taking the 831(b) election from their “Dirty Dozen” list (a compilation by the IRS of the programs that represent “The worst of the worst tax scams”). 2020 is the first time since 2014 that Captives were not included on the list.
• 23 parties including SIIA filed an Amicus Brief recently in reference to the case before the US Supreme Court: CIC Services LLC v. IRS.  For more details, click here.

What You Can Do To Help

In an attempt to build upon recent successes, SIIA is asking Captive Owners to consider joining its Advocacy efforts by contacting Ryan Work to setup meetings with Members of Congress to share their stories.  Congress Members want to hear from their constituents, and who is better to educate government officials than those that are utilizing Captives for real risk mitigation in their Companies.  The IRS was under the assumption that many coverages written by Captives insure for risks that are not real; yet here we are in the middle of a pandemic and one of the only coverages responding are Contingent Business Interruption policies issued by Captives.

As Ryan stated during the webinar,

“Doing nothing invites risk and doing nothing in the Captive industry creates issues.  If we do not create the dialog, those in opposition to Captives will fill that silence, which could result in restrictions or worse.  Those in support of Captives must speak out to prevent the loudest voice from being the critics.”

Sandra L. Fenters is a member of Ryan Work’s SIIA Advocacy Committee for the last 3 years.  She has met with many legislators in an attempt to educate them about and advocate for Captives.  It is something Sandra and Capterra feel is necessary and important.  We would love to build our advocacy team with a focus on education so that Congress Members understand the need for Captives and do not simply base their viewpoint solely on what is portrayed by critics.

Although the goal is to educate and solve this problem, the reality is that this is an ongoing effort due to the turnover in Congress.  Alone, SIIA cannot reach out to all 450 Members of Congress, but with the help of Captive Owners, we can together build a narrative and reach many more.

If you are interested in telling your Company’s story and helping to educate Members of Congress on the need for Captives, please let us know and we will put you in contact with Ryan Work so that he can aid in setting up a meeting with a Member of Congress or a staffer.

Thank you for considering playing a key role in the future of Captives by aiding with Advocacy efforts.  We hope to work with you in this capacity in the near future.

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What Prompted This Communication

The information above was reviewed in a recent webinar Capterra Risk Solutions, LLC participated in on Tuesday, July 21, 2020 titled SIIA Captive Owner Engagement & Policy Update presented by Ryan Work the Vice President of Government Relations for the Self-Insurance Institute of America, Inc. (SIIA).

In summary, the webinar covered the background of SIIA, their goals, approach, and recent activity, a timeline of the past 5 years as it relates to Captives, and an ask for Captive Owners to participate in advocacy and education efforts to engage Members of Congress.   If you would like to view the webinar, please let us know and we will obtain approval to share a link to the recording with you.