Student Essay Contest
The annual CICA Student Essay Contest invites two-person teams of college students from a variety of disciplines including insurance, risk management, actuarial science, finance and business management.
Contest DetailsThe Challenge
Students are asked to demonstrate how to establish a captive for their chosen case study, select policy options, determine underwriting, pricing and more.
Sponsored by:
We hear from young professionals they want to be challenged in their careers and they want to make a difference. Captive insurance provides those types of opportunities.”
Dan Towle, CICA President
About the Contest
The CICA 2023-2024 Student Essay Contest “Captive Insurance Solutions for Today’s Risk Management Challenges”, sponsored by Hylant Global Captive Solutions, invites students to select one of three case study topics for the competition. Students will demonstrate how to establish a captive for their specific case study, select policy options, determine underwriting, pricing and more.
Contest Timeline
October 9, 2023 | Webinar for interested students. View the recording here.
October 20, 2023 | Intent to participate deadline. Student teams submit Intent to Participate Form. Note: you can still submit a final essay even if you do not submit the Intent Form.
November 17, 2023 | Essay submission deadline. Student teams submit using the Final Essay Submission Form.
January 10, 2024 | Top three finalist teams notified.
March 10-12, 2024 | CICA International Conference. Finalists present essays and first, second and third place are announced.
April 2024 | Finalist essays are published by our media partner Captive Insurance Times post-Conference.
Contest Awards
Cash Prize
1st Prize: $2,500
2nd Prize: $1,500
3rd Prize: $1,000
CICA International Conference
Winning teams receive free registration and an opportunity to present.
Publication
Winning entries published by Captive Insurance Times and on the CICA website.
Official media partner:
Contest Rules
Teams: College students work in teams of 2 students per essay
Essay Length: 10 pgs. maximum Word document (double-spaced, 12 pt. font in Times New Roman or Cambria)
Prior Publication: Essays may not have been previously published (online or in print) or be in consideration for publication elsewhere
Judging: Essays will be judged by a team of CICA Members. No more than one team per school can advance to top three
Case Studies
Case studies focus on developing strategies to help fictional organizations in real-world situations develop captive insurance solutions.
Vane University
Case Study # 1
Vane University (VU) is a land grant, public university system with nearly 66,000 students and over 24,000 staff at four physical campuses and county extension agents in 80 counties across the state. VU is known for several historic campus buildings, the earliest of which were built nearly 200 years ago. The most famous is the Greek Revival style Adams Hall administration building, once used as a Civil War hospital and now listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The university carries general liability, vehicle liability, workers’ compensation and property insurance. VU also provides access to a range of liability and property insurance for purchase by campus departments and members of the general public doing business with the university. VU is experiencing increasing premiums and difficulty securing higher coverage limits for its general liability and vehicle liability due to market challenges stemming from the increasing frequency and severity of claims. VU is looking into the alternative risk market to help reduce the rising costs of commercial insurance.
A well-run captive insurance program can provide additional focus on an established risk management plan. Based on your analysis, design a captive insurance company program structure to address VU’s top two risks and explain your rationale.
LoveIt! Rentals
Case Study # 2
LoveIt! Rentals leases properties for groups of 10 or more within a 5-minute drive of the beach. The business emphasizes its responsive staff and dog and budget-friendly properties, many of which have their own pools. Based out of Florida, LoveIt! Rentals has 350 full-time employees located at 100 rental properties throughout Georgia, Florida, North Carolina, South Carolina, and Alabama.
The increasing frequency of catastrophic weather-related losses, higher reinsurance costs, rising property values, and increasing building material expenses have created a challenging commercial real estate insurance market. Like many property owners, LoveIt! Rentals saw a 26% increase in property insurance rates this year. The combined effect of these market influences has resulted in carriers cutting back on the coverage they provide. As a result, even with its increased risk management diligence, LoveIt! Rentals is not able to secure the level of property coverage or the excess general liability coverage they need in the commercial market. Further, the higher premiums have curtailed LoveIt’s ability to make needed investments in their properties.
A well-run captive insurance program can provide additional focus on an established risk management plan. Based on your analysis, design a captive insurance company program structure to address LoveIt! Rentals’s top two risks and explain your rationale.
Beta Airlines
Case Study # 3
Beta Airlines, headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, employs 50,000 people and operates 600 aircraft with flights to 40 different countries. The airline is known for its customer service, new aircraft and reliability. The aviation insurance market has seen steady insurance premium increases since 2018 due to:
- Increased flight activity post-COVID resulting in more catastrophic and minor accidents/losses, increasing liability amounts
- Supply chain and labor issues that increase direct costs for claims and result in longer aircraft-on-ground times
- Inflationary increases on claims handling
As a result, Beta Airlines is seeing more stringent underwriting guidelines along with a 7% increase in its aircraft liability and a 9% increase in its aircraft physical damage insurance this year and double digit increases anticipated for the next renewal period. Beta Airlines is looking into the alternative risk market to help reduce the rising costs of commercial insurance. They are also considering potential new revenue streams such as flight cancelation insurance to supplement its revenue.
A well-run captive insurance program can provide additional focus on an established risk management plan. Based on your analysis, design a captive insurance company program structure to address Beta Airlines’s top two risks and explain your rationale.
CICA 2023-2024 Essay Contest Overview Webinar
Students interested in learning more about the CICA College Student Essay Contest are encouraged to view the overview webinar, recorded on October 9, 2023. Students will have the opportunity to learn about captive insurance, the contest and the case studies from the Hylant GCS team members who will serve as mentors.
About the 2022-2023 CICA Student Essay Contest
Saint Mary’s University seniors Olivia Faulkner and Zane Smith received first-place honors in the 2022-2023 CICA College Student Essay Contest Captive Insurance Solutions for Today’s Risk Management Challenges. The winning team was announced during the opening session of the CICA 2023 International Conference at the Westin Rancho Mirage Resort & Spa.
Second place went to Carter Cappon and Chase Mendham of Olivet College, and third place to Ting-Wei Liu and Nachapol Charamornburapong of Temple University.
You can read the final essays, published in Captive Insurance Times, by clicking here.
Previous CICA Essay Contest Winners
- 2023: Olivia Faulkner and Zane Smith, Saint Mary’s University
- 2022: Matia Daskalos and Vincent Palmieri, Temple University
- 2021: Ashley Martin and Max Bernstein, Saint Joseph’s University
- 2020: Megan Moore and Natalie Kojababian, University of Southern California
- 2019: Angel Song and Alana Vicale, Temple University