Domicile

A captive's domicile is the jurisdiction that licenses it as an insurer and supervises it: a US state such as Vermont, or a jurisdiction outside the United States such as Bermuda or the Cayman Islands. The domicile's captive law decides which types of captive are available and sets the capital, governance and reporting rules, along with how the captive is taxed there.

Domicile is not the same as where the owner is based, where the insured risks are located, or where service providers have offices. A company headquartered in one state can own a captive domiciled in another. On Bastivo, a provider's domicile relationships show the domiciles it says it serves; they are recorded separately from its headquarters, office locations and any license it holds.

Example (illustrative): a manufacturer headquartered in Ohio forms a captive in Vermont. Vermont's Department of Financial Regulation licenses and examines the captive; the manufacturer's Ohio headquarters does not make Ohio the captive's regulator.

To compare the rules of individual jurisdictions, see captive insurance domiciles.