Case Studies

We work with a variety of businesses across many industries. Here are just a few stories outlining how we’ve helped them efficiently manage their underinsured and uninsured risks.

Captives Fill Gaps for Risk Mitigation for Construction Firm

Summary

Applied Construction Solutions (ACS), based in West Virginia, offers construction services to all sectors of the oil, gas, utility, midstream, and energy industries.

ACS was frustrated with higher premiums and gaps in its assorted risk-mitigation coverages-particularly in its employee benefits program.

Client Concern/Challenge

The rates from its traditional, fully-insured model continued to rise every year; the company believed its own claims were not high, but it had no visibility into the claims data. The firm found itself chasing lower rates annually by seeking competing programs from insurance carriers, with few benefits other than moderating the accelerating rate increases.

Solution

After research, ACS moved in 2022 to a self-insured group medical benefits captive that gave the team visibility into claims, group purchasing benefits, and the ability to share in insurance carrier profits through the size of the group.

After joining the medical benefits group captive, the ACS team began working with Capterra Risk on other ways to mitigate company risks.

ACS expanded into a single parent captive to cover risks around business interruption, cyber-attacks, excess pollution/environmental liability, deductible reimbursement, property, and crime/theft losses.

Results

Andria Alvarez Wymer, Director of Strategic Initiatives and Planning at ACS, says “in the first year of our single parent captive, we were able to receive reimbursement from a claim related to employee theft related to fraudulent invoices. Without the captive plan, ACS would have faced that loss.”

She adds that setting up an effective captive program is not simple and requires a skilled partner. “There is a huge learning curve,” says Ms. Alvarez Wymer. “The Capterra team is highly knowledgeable; they keep the program simple with ‘layman’s terms.’”

“Capterra is a great team with whom to work and are always available.”

Avoiding Taking It on the Chin

Summary

Franjo Construction, a Pennsylvania-based general commercial contractor, faces a wide range of risks in its construction business. Claims erode profitability.

Challenge:

A big issue for construction firms is workmanship claims.  Joe Leonello, Jr, President of Franjo Construction, points that ‘we as an industry make a lot of mistakes.’ This can be costly.

However, there can be many limitations to coverage provided by commercial carriers. Because of these limitations, construction firms like Franjo must take on significant risk. Mr. Leonello points out that “when there are claims, our profit for the job fades.”

Capterra Solution:

Capterra put together a single parent captive that provided Franjo with the comfort to mitigate the risks as well as allow the firm to know its claim history to better price jobs and reduce future losses.

Results/Benefits:

“We built a hotel where select panels flew off the building a number of years after its completion,” says Joe Leonello. “We assessed the problem and fixed the issue but had to write off a substantial sum five years after the construction ended. This presented a challenge to our profits.”

With its captive program, the claim was fully paid by the captive – preserving Franjo’s annual profits.

“Franjo would have taken it on the chin had it not been for the captive insurance program,”

Captive Insurance Brings Peace of Mind to Houston Business

Client Concern/Issue:

The principals of a Houston-area furniture retailer and interior design firm sought better control over potential business risks that its commercial policies were not covering.

Capterra Solution:

The firm launched a captive insurance program in 2013 to mitigate these risks.

Over 8 years the program has been called upon to cover a number of such claims.  The policy not only covered damage and business interruption losses from Hurricane Harvey, but it also paid claims on lost business due to a key employee exiting the company.

Capterra Risk’s Exceptional Support

The principals value Capterra’s deep expertise in risk mitigation and understanding the retailer’s requirements of their captive program. “Capterra allows us to focus our attention on our business with the ‘peace of mind’ that Capterra has our captive program fully covered.  They rigorously track the program’s details, keep us in full compliance, and update us on regulatory changes that affect our captive insurance company.”

Results/Benefits:

COVID-19: Illustrating the value of captive insurance

The captive program really showed its worth in spring 2020 when COVOD-19 shut down the United States economy. While US government programs did provide some payroll support, the business still suffered closures and significant delays, leading to lost profits. The captive’s Contingent Business Interruption policy paid a significant claim to cover these losses. This claim would certainly have been rejected under a commercial policy.

 

Comprehensive Management of 84 Lumber’s Captive Programs

Summary:

In 2014, 84 Indemnity Co., part of the 84 Lumber family of companies, decided to transfer the management of its captive program to a new firm located in Western Pennsylvania.  After a thorough vetting process of multiple firms, 84 Indemnity Co. selected Capterra Risk Solutions, LLC.

Capterra Solution:

Capterra helped 84 Lumber, utilizing 84 Indemnity Co., to provide insurance to smaller independent installers of 84 Lumber that could not meet its stringent insurance requirements. They have also worked with them to cover the gap of warranty exposures where some state laws have held companies to longer term warranty guarantees than those written in their contracts. Capterra also works with the captive to manage long tail workers’ compensation claims, allowing 84 Lumber to move those unstable liabilities off of its books and onto the books of the captive, thereby reducing long term liabilities by 70%.

Results/Benefits:

84 Indemnity appreciated Capterra Risk’s flexibility and hands-on approach as well as its willingness to customize its proposal and services to meet the needs of the captives, while taking in to account 84 Indemnity management’s extensive insurance experience.

Capterra Risk Solutions, LLC provides comprehensive management to 84 Lumber’s captive including corporate governance, regulatory, and financial reporting.  Capterra also has a large network of 3rd party service providers with extensive experience working with captive insurance, which has been beneficial to the 84 Indemnity team.

From Product Recall to Insured Profit

Client Concern/Issue:

A large, privately held food distributor, as a precautionary measure, conducted a product recall and pulled product off of grocery store shelves after a foodborne illness outbreak was linked to an ingredient within their product.  The client incurred the cost to remove the product and also incurred an interruption in revenue while managing relationships with their valued customer base, publicity issues, and legal expenses.

Capterra Solution:

Due to the loss history of the food distributor, the traditional insurance market was unwilling to extend reasonable terms, conditions, and premiums to insure the product exposure of the food distributor in the event of a future claim. Capterra created a captive insurance company exclusively owned by the food distributor to insure their exposures, including product recall, product liability, and contingent business interruption.

Results/Benefits:

Where there was once only unfunded, self-insured risk, now the food distributor owns a separate profit center in the form of a captive insurance company, designed to insure the risks of the business owner by funding for potential future liability.  The food distributor’s captive has created net after-tax profits to the owner exceeding $6 million over a four-year period.

Maximum Coverage and Profits for Healthcare Agency

Client Concern/Issue:

A large, privately held home healthcare agency providing in-home skilled and non-skilled nursing and private duty care was concerned with the significant increase in their traditional insurance premiums at renewal. The agency had locations in more than four states with roughly 400 employees. As the home healthcare company continued to make acquisitions, expand facilities, and take on more employees, their insurance expense between property/casualty and medical was in excess of $1 million annually. The company wanted to explore their options of traditional methods of insurance, forms of self-insurance, and potentially consider creating and owning their own insurance company.

Capterra Solution:

Capterra conducted a comprehensive market analysis and feasibility study to determine whether or not a captive insurance company was an economically viable option and an appropriate solution for the organization’s overall financial and strategic needs. Based on the company’s clean loss history, size, and annual insurance spend, it was ultimately determined that a captive insurance company would be designed around, and in synch with, the traditional insurance program to maximum coverage and capture profits.

Results/Benefits:

The home healthcare agency first utilized the many benefits of a captive program by increasing their deductibles within their underlying traditional insurance program, thereby driving down the cost at their annual insurance renewal and, second, by insuring those higher deductible levels within their own captive insurance company. Additionally, the captive provided broadened coverage for risks endemic to the home healthcare industry, including breach of privacy data/cyber liability, crime exposures, employment practices liability, and reimbursement for medical deductible expenditures. By implementing the captive program, the company has decreased their traditional insurance spend by roughly 35% over a three-year period, has greater control over their annual underwriting renewal process, and has captured profits within their closely controlled captive of approximately $2 million over the same time period.

Filling the Holes in a Law Firm’s Coverage

Client Concern/Issue:

A mid-sized law firm specializing in personal injury law purchased a lawyers’ professional liability policy to protect the law firm and the individual attorneys from errors and omissions. Discussions concerning alternative methods of insurance began after the collapse and bankruptcy of their professional liability carrier that had underwritten the malpractice liability insurance for the firm. Unfortunately, the law firm had a claim during the period in which the carrier was in run-off/liquidation and the partners of the firm found the experience to be an unpleasant one which left the firm with less than adequate insurance for both defense and indemnity coverage.

Capterra Solution:

After a full insurance market study was conducted, it was determined that other, more financially stable and traditional carriers were unwilling to provide reasonable terms and conditions to bridge coverage from the prior carrier, which presented a significant gap in coverage. Having worked on the carrier side as underwriters, the team at Capterra has the underwriting expertise and depth of knowledge to understand and identify the coverages, potential gaps, and exclusions in the various policy forms available in the market. The Capterra team formed a captive program to provide coverage for unknown potential liability associated with the transitional time period from the prior bankrupted carrier to placement of coverage with the new carrier. Additionally, the captive provided coverage for other areas of exposure to the firm that historically had been self-insured including breach of privacy and cyber liability.

Results/Benefits:

The firm ultimately experienced a claim that was denied and/or not covered in full by both the carrier in run-off and the current carrier. By this point, the captive had two years of surplus built up and was in a position to protect the law firm with reimbursement of claim-related expenses.

Insurance Premium Profits in Excess of $3 Million

Client Concern/Issue:

A large real estate developer with controlling interest in more than 3 million square feet of office, retail, and mixed-use properties was interested in the merits of self-insuring certain of the company’s risks as the organization continued to experience growth and profitability. Over time, the developer had taken on more risk in the form of higher deductibles and/or decided not to renew certain traditional coverages and retain the risk within the business.

Capterra Solution:

The Capterra team was engaged to provide a cost benefit analysis to the developer to identify the merits of establishing a captive insurance company and to collaborate with the developer’s attorneys and estate planners on the most beneficial ownership structure and optimal domicile jurisdiction.

Results/Benefits:

In a purely self-insured environment, the developer was unable to harness certain financial and asset protection benefits that a captive may provide. By converting the pre-existing, self-insured arrangement into a formal insurance company, the developer was able to capture profits in the form of insurance premiums within the captive program and, after three years of profitable operations, had built surplus in excess of $3 million and exercised certain dividend options.

Building a School District’s Corrective Risk Management Plan

Client Concern/Issue:

A school district was interested in an independent insurance analysis of the district’s existing risk management program. This included an evaluation of the district’s vendors that provided brokerage services, loss control services, and legal services for claims adjudication pertaining to workers compensation and employment practices lawsuits.

Capterra Solution:

Capterra designed the insurance coverage specifications for a Request for Proposal (RFP) process, including development of underwriting data, determining the appropriate level of risk to be retained by the district in the form of self-insurance, and assistance in the completion of a strategic and effective bidding process.

Results/Benefits:

By providing independent consulting services to oversee the insurance procurement process, including the interview and brokerage selection process, the district’s areas of deficiency within the risk management program were exposed, and a corrective plan of action was implemented.