Friday, March 29, 2024
Montana Captive Insurance Information

Montana is a great place to do business. And the captive insurance industry has flourished inside the state.Montana based captives enjoy the benefits of autonomy, tax deductions, and regulatory efficiency. A cooperative and helpful state Insurance Department and knowledgable elected officials make licensing and operating captive insurance companies within the state an enjoyable business venture. To read, in full, Montana's adopted captive law, click here.

Benefits of Doing Business in Montana

  • Montana Captives have the privilege of writing property, casualty, workers' compensation, life, health and disability coverages
  • Montana allows the formation of branch captives (for off-shore captives who wish to maintain an on-shore presence), RRGs, reciprocals, sponsored protected-cell, and association captives for groups
  • Montana law and tax policies are competitive with other domiciles
  • Montana's captive support infrastructure is mature and established
  • Captive Regulators in Montana are responsive and readily available to answer the questions of captive owners.

Who Regulates Captives in Montana?

The office of Montana State Auditor Troy Downing handles all Montana Captive-related inquiries. Downing is also the State Insurance Commissioner and has primary regulatory oversight of captives within the domicile.  The public contact at Downing's office is Steve Matthews, who can be reached at 406-444-4372 or via email at smatthews@mt.gov

State Captive Requirements

A captive insurance company may not be issued a license unless it possesses and maintains unimpaired paid-in capital and surplus of:

a. pure captive insurance company: $250,000.

b. industrial insured captive insurance company: $500,000.

c. association captive insurance company: $500,000.

d. special purpose captive: Amount determined by the Commissioner based on a business plan.

e. protected cell captive: $500,000 (or $250,000 if less than 11 cells & homogenous risk).

f. special purpose series LLC captive: $50,000 in the core and not less than a 4-to-1 premiums to surplus ratio in each series business unit.

g. reinsurance captive: Half the capital requirement for the same type of direct-writing captive.

The Commissioner may require additional capital and surplus based on the type, volume, and nature of insurance business transacted.

Capital and surplus may be in the form of cash or an irrevocable letter of credit issued by a bank chartered by the state of Montana or a member bank of the Federal Reserve System and approved by the Commissioner.

Additional Information and Forms 

Tax Information

Captive Application & Needed Forms

Montana Captive Code - Full Text (PDF)

Montana Captive Code - Full Text (Word doc)