The South Carolina Department of Insurance said last week that its person running the captive insurance program would be easing into a part-time role and the search for a full-time replacement is on. The department also hinted at changes to come.

Leslie Jones, who has headed the program for most of the five years it has been running, is leaving her post to spend more time with her young family. She will stay on board as an actuarial consultant for "complex captives transactions" and "on an as-needed basis," Eleanor Kitzman, director of the department, said in a statement.

In 2000, South Carolina started its captive program, which offers companies a type of self-insurance, as a part of an economic development plan for the state. Legislation crafted at the time, for instance, offered captive companies looking to relocate here a $10,000 cap on premium taxes.

Last year, the state took in $1.5 million in such premium taxes, double what it collected the year before, and the industry's direct economic impact was estimated at $8 million. South Carolina also granted 47 captive licenses in 2004, the most of any state, making it the third-biggest location for captive companies after Vermont and Hawaii.

Kitzman also used some puzzling language in laying out what's next. "The initial evaluation and licensing of captives, and the subsequent regulation of those captives, has been handled on an ad-hoc basis," she said. "As we move forward with the transition to a new captives program manager, we will also be developing guidelines for the ongoing regulation of captives, as well as a more clearly defined overall process for the program."

It's unclear what Kitzman meant. While captives are vetted to make sure they maintain adequate capital requirements, much of what they do remains unregulated, including the rates they set.

HURRICANE MYTHS

With hurricane season here, the insurance industry is eager to dispel myths it says could make the difference between being covered and losing out.

The Insurance Information Institute cites a recent poll that suggests people in hurricane-prone areas along the coasts aren't taking the proper steps to protect themselves, even in the wake of five devastating storms last year.

The National Hurricane Survival Initiative poll found, for example, that nearly half those surveyed had no disaster plan in place for hurricane season, and that one in four coastal residents mistakenly believed they could "evacuate flood-prone areas 30 minutes to an hour before a hurricane made landfall."

A 2004 Harris Poll also points out that many homeowners are "underinsured," meaning their policies aren't enough to cover the whole home if catastrophe hits.

Many times, this comes as a result of people sprucing up their homes and not telling their agent. Also, rising construction and labor costs mean higher replacement costs. Insurance companies value property not by market value, but by how much it costs to replace property.

Insurers recommend people take out policies that guarantee to fully replace property and include inflation guards and upgrade clauses, which will account for higher construction costs and any new building codes.