In 2018, Vermont-domiciled STICO Mutual Insurance Company Ins. Co. Risk Retention Group (STICO) saw its outlook from A.M. Best downgraded to negative. STICO’s A.M Best rating is a critical component of the RRG’s operation, as many of its members require A-rated paper. According to STICO President Colin Donovan, A.M. Best had told him that “we want to see our A-rated …
RRG Show Strong 2020 Financials According to Demotech Report
Demotech, Inc. recently published its Analysis of Risk Retention Groups—Year End 2020. The report finds that risk retention groups continue to report strong financials, with strong gains in assets and policyholder’s surplus. According to the report, risk retention groups also reported premium growth of 6.4% that took premium for the risk retention group industry to $3.8 billion. The Risk Retention …
Longtime Vermont Regulator Len Crouse Passes Away
Vermont’s second Director of Captive Insurance Leonard “Len” Crouse passed away on May 6, 2021. Crouse led the Vermont Captive Division from 1990 to 2008. “Timing plays a big part in any successful venture, and Len was the right guy at the right time,” said Deputy Commissioner, Captive Insurance at State of Vermont David Provost. “He had the right combination …
Management and Regulators Contribute to Spirit Commercial RRG’s Mounting Troubles
Editor’s Note: This article is a reprint of an investigative report that ran in the February 2019 issue of the Risk Retention Reporter. In April 2021, liquidation proceedings involving Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group were appealed to the Nevada Court. This article was cited in the Writ of Mandamus filed by Nevada Commissioner of Insurance Barbara Richardson. Given that, …
Spirit Liquidation Hearings Appealed to Nevada Supreme Court
Nevada Commissioner of Insurance Barbara Richardson in her capacity as the Receiver for Spirit Commercial Auto Risk Retention Group, Inc. (Spirit) has filed a Petition for Writ of Mandamus (the Writ) with the Supreme Court of the State of Nevada (Supreme Court) regarding a ruling by Nevada District Court, Clark County (District Court) that stayed all proceedings in the liquidation …
Hospitality RRG Enters Liquidation
An order of liquidation was filed for Hospitality Risk Retention Group, Inc. (Hospitality RRG) on April 8, 2021 in the Washington Unit of the Superior Court for the State of Vermont. Hospitality RRG was licensed by the Vermont Department of Financial Regulation (Vermont DFR) on October 24, 2016 to provide commercial automobile liability to Domino’s Pizza franchisees. Hospitality RRG wrote …
UE’s Joe Carter on the Pandemic Year
In April 2020, the Risk Retention Reporter ran a series of interviews with risk retention groups and RRG regulators on the challenges of navigating the coronavirus pandemic. One of those interviews was with United Educators Insurance, a Reciprocal Risk Retention Group (UE), a risk retention group serving educational institutions. Schools and universities have experienced considerable disruption from the pandemic, with …
Navigating the Reinsurance Marketplace as an RRG: An Interview with Gulfstream Risk Advisors’ Bill Hodson
The insurance market remains hard which opens the door for new risk retention group formations as the world moves past the coronavirus pandemic. However, the pandemic, and a series of natural disasters, have disrupted the reinsurance industry which could potentially complicate the process of starting up a new risk retention group. Effective reinsurance is one of the most important components …
ANI Takes Lead in Providing Communicable Disease Coverage
As individuals and businesses grapple with the long-term liabilities surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic, risk retention groups are taking steps to help protect their members with risk management advice and in some cases, insurance coverage. Nonprofits Insurance Alliance Group, (NIA) the parent company of Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California (NIAC), Alliance of Nonprofits for Insurance, RRG (ANI), and National Alliance of …
After Successful Leaders Summit, NRRA Looks to Fall Conference
The National Risk Retention Association (NRRA) held its third annual Leader’s Summit virtually from February 9 to 10, 2021. With attendance at the Leader’s summit up this year, and interest in risk retention groups increasing due to the hard market, NRRA is now looking to its Fall Conference and the hope of meeting in-person. “For all intents and purposes, the …