Melissa Hollingsworth, deputy chief risk officer at the Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD), wants the organisation to develop a “premier captive” in the government entity sector having formed in Vermont last year.

Los Angeles Unified School District Insurance Company, LLC was licensed in June 2024 and is managed by WTW.

Hollingsworth joined LAUSD in October 2024 and is wasting no time in expanding the captive’s utilisation to support the organisation across multiple lines of insurance.

Speaking on the latest episode of the Global Captive Podcast alongside Jim DeVoe-Talluto, assistant director of captive insurance within the Captive Insurance Division at Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation, Hollingsworth said LAUSD had been considering a captive for more than 10 years, but a series of nuclear verdicts prompted its eventual formation last year.

“The captive was the solution to be able to get that back under control and it has worked,” Hollingsworth explained.

The captive started with workers’ compensation, general liability and recently began writing part of the property programme.

“I’m looking to add cyber and my OCIP [owner-controlled insurance program] and eventually we’ll put our health and benefits in,” Hollingsworth added.

“That is a bit of a different beast, and we’re trying to do that in a very strategic way because we write about a billion and a half in that programme alone.

“We’re actually looking at every line of risk that we possibly can put in there, but we’re trying to be smart about it.”

As the captive grows over time, Hollingsworth and the captive manager will have to work with the regulator on changes to business plan.

Jim DeVoe-Talluto, assistant director of captive insurance within the Captive Insurance Division at Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation, explained on the podcast that it is quite common for captives to start with one or two lines of insurance before looking to expand its utilisation over time.

“Any change to the original business plan requires a formal business plan change request,” he said.

“That comes in the form of a letter and the captive manager is typically the one who prepares this letter, which describes changes to the programme, new lines of coverage, updated limits, or perhaps changes to reinsurers.

“Our leadership team reviews these requests and typically responds within five business days. That’s our commitment to the industry that we understand your timelines and the intensity of the renewal process, and that we can get that information in a pretty timely fashion.”

Listen to the full interview with Melissa Hollingsworth and Jim DeVoe-Talluto on the Global Captive Podcast here, or on any podcast platform. Just search for ‘Global Captive Podcast’.