IC’s Office Still Losing Money

Buried in yesterday’s News Journal was a small article on a report from the Insurance Commissioner’s office.

The Delaware Insurance Commissioner’s Office has doubled the number of captive insurance companies that operate in the state, ending the year with 96. But the unit set up to attract the companies is still losing money, and Insurance Commissioner Karen Weldin Stewart is still defending the Captive Bureau after criticism last year of spending on outside consultants.

The Captive Bureau still spends more than it brings in from premium tax revenue. But with the growth in the number of captive insurance companies doing business in Delaware, revenue should meet or exceed costs at this time next year, said the bureau’s director, Steve Kinion.

During the last year, premium tax revenue from captive insurance companies increased by 28 percent, or about $250,000, Stewart’s office reported. Many of the businesses came to Delaware toward the end of the year, which limited the amount of premium tax they paid that year, Kinion said.

The IC’s office will start making money any day now. So, who’s lining up to run against her in 2012? Hey, perhaps Tom Wagner could make himself useful by looking at what’s going on there.