Vermont Records Top-10 Year for Captive Insurance Formations

Vermont saw one of its top-10 highest years of captive insurance growth in 2024, licensing 41 new captives. The state now has 683 licensed captives—654 active and 29 dormant—bringing the total to 1,370 since its enabling legislation was passed in 1981. The momentum continued into 2025, with 8 new licenses issued in the first week of January.

Governor Phil Scott said, "Vermont continues to be a leader in the captive insurance industry and is committed to providing high-quality regulation and service to captive insurance companies that choose to do business here."

"Vermont's success has been built upon a system of dedicated resources and industry partners sharing the common goal of developing and maintaining captive insurance expertise, and advancing standards required to responsibly meet the needs of industry," added Sandy Bigglestone, acting commissioner of Vermont's Department of Financial Regulation.

Vermont expanded its global reach in 2024, with new captives formed by companies from France, the United Kingdom, and Mexico. The state now hosts over 80 captives with international ownership.

The 41 new formations spanned 16 industries, led by real estate, construction, health care, and insurance. These included 30 pure captives, 9 sponsored captives, a special purpose financial insurer, and a risk retention group. Vermont's 69 sponsored captives also added over 30 new protected cells in 2024.

"Commercial property insurance continues to tighten due to increased natural disasters," said Brittany Nevins, the Department of Economic Development's captive insurance economic development director. "This has resulted in a rise in captive insurance companies in the real estate industry to mitigate these property coverage challenges and provide greater long-term stability and relief."

With passage of its groundbreaking legislation in 1981, Vermont became the first US state to be competitive with onshore captive domiciles by, among other things, setting reasonable captive capitalization and surplus requirements. Looking ahead, the Vermont Captive Insurance Association (VCIA) plans to celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2025 with a rebranding campaign and special events during its annual August conference.