A Risk Retention Group, or “RRG”, is an insurance company formed pursuant to the federal Risk Retention Act of 1981. An RRG underwrites liability risks and avoids cumbersome multistate licensing laws.
For example, the NASW RRG is domiciled in Washington D.C. and files its products with the Washington D.C. insurance regulators. Once the insurance products are filed and approved, the approved insurance products may be immediately sold in all 50 U.S. states.
Risk Retention Groups are owned by their policyholders. This is very important because the RRG profits are earned for the benefit of the policyholders and are not paid to Wall Street stockholders or to private corporation owners. The RRG profits are used to provide generous and comprehensive insurance policy benefits at below market premium prices.
The benefits of RRGs have long been recognized and accepted by the United States. Some of the benefits to the RRG policyholders are that the RRG Board is comprised of Directors who truly represent the policyholders. Many Directors have the same professional occupation and experiences as the policyholders, so they recognize the importance of the profession.
RRGs are known to have excellent claims loss control and stable management practices to ensure steady assurance for RRG policyholders. RRGs have ready access to reinsurance markets such as the NASW RRG with SwissRE, the #1 reinsurer in the world. RRGs have a wide footprint and accept policyholders in all states.
Most insurance carriers do not write policies in all states. RRGs are known for their flexibility to accommodate policyholders’ needs, fair and ethical claims adjudication, and they are also known for having comprehensive and liberal policy benefits. Most often, RRGs have lower premiums and more coverage than competitors do because they do not have the Wall Street earnings demands. RRGs are created for their policyholders.