Captive insurance programs target commercial auto in Canada

eCaptiv, which provides alternative and captive insurance solutions in Canada and the United States, will be forming two group captives through an exclusive group of independent insurance brokers to “combat commercial auto trends in Canada.”

The programs are in the process of accepting submissions for prospective members and intend to commence in July, eCaptiv said in a press release on Feb. 12. “Members can exit the traditional insurance market to combat current commercial auto trends,” said Tony Passarelli, general manager and vice president of distribution with Energi of Canada.

Based in Peabody, Mass., eCaptiv is an affiliated entity of Energi Insurance Services, Inc. among other companies. The company’s Canadian corporate headquarters are in Mississauga, Ont.

Commercial auto trends are on the radar of Canadian commercial brokers. In late January, Canadian Underwriter conducted an online poll of 132 personal and commercial lines brokers; 34 brokers in the survey identified themselves as purely commercial brokers, while 45 identified as doing commercial work within full-service brokerages. The rest were exclusively personal lines brokers.

Of the purely commercial brokers, 73% reporting seeing price increases in commercial auto, with more than 79% say these higher rates have had a “large impact” or “some impact” on clients.

eCaptiv’s two group captive programs include:

• A captive for companies that have HazMat exposure;
• A captive focused on more generic short- to medium-haul fleets.

Both of eCaptiv’s programs will be geared towards companies with more than $250,000 in primary casualty premiums.

Captives are 100% owned by their insureds. A group captive has multiple owners and is formed by a group of individuals or entities that come together to jointly own the captive insurance company.

All members will be adopting risk management technology programs such as dash cameras, telematics and online training that are key elements in fighting litigation financing and adverse commercial auto trends. eCaptiv’s sister company, eTech Services’ Telematics Exchange and eLive Connect, will be used to aggregate telematics data from a number of telematics service providers and provide 24/7 loss prevention and safety training for drivers.

eCaptiv will be hosting an information webinar series starting Tues., Feb. 19 for independent insurance brokers and insurance companies that have an interest in participating in the program.