What Key Person Insurance Requirements Apply in Maryland?

Maryland residents receive up to $300,000 in state guaranty-association coverage for a life policy’s death benefit if a member insurer becomes insolvent. Because a key-person policy may exceed that backstop, identify the issuing insurer and size the benefit with the cap in view. Maryland expressly recognizes an employer’s economic interest in a key employee when the employer is beneficiary. Its broader nonkey employee provisions are narrower, including a 12-month employment and written-consent rule for certain public corporations. Identify the insured’s key-employee status in the application. Compare your ownership and insured’s role with Md. Code, Ins. § 12-201(b)(4), (e).

What Is Key Person Insurance?

Key person insurance pays the business, not the person’s family, when a founder, partner or employee it relies on dies. Disability, overhead expense and buyout funding are separate products to discuss on their own. Read the national Key person guide.

What Should You Watch for With Key Person Insurance in Maryland?

Document the Business Interest
Maryland expressly recognizes an employer’s economic interest in a key employee when the employer is beneficiary. Its broader nonkey employee provisions are narrower, including a 12-month employment and written-consent rule for certain public corporations. Identify the insured’s key-employee status in the application. ¹
Complete Written Notice and Consent
Maryland bars a corporate employer from retaliating against an employee who refuses consent. Ask how the carrier separates key-person coverage from coverage on nonkey employees, which has additional limits. ^2,³
Check the State Guaranty Backstop
For insolvency coverage, the reported Maryland limit is $300,000 per life. NOLHGA also reports a $5 million aggregate limit for one owner’s multiple nongroup life policies, including policies covering employees. Check it against the business’s maximum planned death benefit. For issuance, also check Md. Code, Ins. § 12-201(b)(4), (e). ^4,^5,¹

Which Key Person Insurance Providers Have Maryland License Records?

These providers publish a national listing for Key person; the license records below name the licensed entities and roles. Some records rely on company-reported information rather than independent regulator verification. A national listing does not confirm the product is available in Maryland. Check the regulator’s license lookup and confirm state availability for your business when requesting a quote.

Vouch
Insurance producer, Surplus-lines broker · checked 2026-09-28
Vouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLC
Vouch’s licenses page, effective January 16, 2025, lists producer licenses in all 50 states and DC. Its separate surplus-lines table includes Idaho number 870820, while a footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses. Because those statements conflict for Idaho, this record keeps Idaho producer-only and does not treat the table number as established agency surplus-lines authority. The page is company-reported and does not establish product availability. ¹⁷
Vouch arranges key person coverage for technology businesses.

Who Regulates Insurance in Maryland?

Maryland Insurance Administration

The Maryland Insurance Administration licenses producers and insurers, reviews rates and forms, and investigates complaints about insurance companies and producers. You can use its state lookup or complaint service to check a license or raise an insurance issue. ^6,^7,⁸

Website: Regulator website
License lookup: Search licensed producers
Complaints: File a complaint
Phone: 800-492-6116

Surplus-Lines Tax and Stamping Office in Maryland

Reported tax rate. 3% of gross premiums less returned premiums when Maryland is the insured's home state; excludes risks of Maryland and its political subdivisions ^9,¹⁰

When Maryland is the insured's home state, the tax is 3% of gross premiums less returned premiums, except insurance of risks of the State or a political subdivision. For policies effective on or after July 21, 2011, Maryland taxes the entire premium and the broker must charge the tax in addition to premium. Maryland's property and casualty guaranty corporation excludes surplus-lines policies.

What Should You Ask Before Buying Key Person Insurance in Maryland?

What Maryland law supports our business’s insurable interest in this person, and what should we retain to prove the role?
What written notice and consent must the insured receive before this policy is issued, and can coverage continue after employment ends?
How would Maryland’s guaranty-association limit apply to this policy and our other business-owned life policies?

Key Person Insurance in Maryland: Frequently Asked Questions

How much of a key person life policy is protected if an insurer fails in Maryland?

NOLHGA shows a $300,000 death-benefit cap for life policies tied to Maryland. A separate owner aggregate may matter when the same company holds several nongroup policies. NOLHGA reports an aggregate $5 million limit for one owner’s multiple nongroup life policies. ^4,⁵

Does my business need an employee’s consent for key person insurance in Maryland?

Yes. Federal rules require written notice and consent before issue for the employer-owned life tax exception. Maryland bars a corporate employer from retaliating against an employee who refuses consent. Ask how the carrier separates key-person coverage from coverage on nonkey employees, which has additional limits. Ask for a copy of the dated notice before the carrier issues coverage. For state-law details, check Md. Code, Ins. § 12-201(b)(4), (e). ^2,^3,¹

Sources for Key Person Insurance in Maryland

1
2025 Maryland Insurance Code § 12-201 — Insurable Interest Required for Personal Insurance. State statute (Justia U.S. Codes and Statutes); Md. Code, Ins. § 12-201(b)(4), (e). Accessed 2026-09-28.
2
26 U.S.C. § 101(j) — Certain employer-owned life insurance contracts. Office of the Law Revision Counsel, U.S. House of Representatives; 26 U.S.C. § 101(j)(2), (4). Accessed 2026-09-28.
3
Internal Revenue Bulletin 2009-24 — Employer-Owned Life Insurance Contracts. Internal Revenue Service; Notice 2009-48, Q&A 6–7; written notice and consent. Accessed 2026-09-28.
4
How You’re Protected: Coverage Levels by State. National Organization of Life & Health Insurance Guaranty Associations; Coverage Levels by State; life insurance death benefits; report current as of May 2025. Accessed 2026-09-28.
5
Life and Health Insurance Guaranty Association Model Act. National Association of Insurance Commissioners; Section 8(A)(2)(d), owner aggregate benefit cap. Accessed 2026-09-28.
6
Maryland Insurance Administration. Maryland Insurance Administration; Homepage and consumer contact. Accessed 2026-09-28.
7
Insurance License Lookup. Maryland Insurance Administration; State-designated producer/company search. Accessed 2026-09-28.
8
File an Insurance Complaint. Maryland Insurance Administration; State complaint process and contact. Accessed 2026-09-28.
9
Md. Code, Insurance §3-324. Maryland General Assembly; Insurance §3-324(a)-(b), (d)-(f): government-risk exclusion; 3% of gross premiums less returns; entire-premium home-state basis from July 21, 2011, with tax charged in addition. Accessed 2026-09-28.
10
Maryland Insurance Article (2026). Maryland General Assembly; Insurance §9-303(5), (7): surplus-lines and unauthorized insurers excluded from property and casualty guaranty subtitle; 2026 Insurance Article PDF. Accessed 2026-09-28.
11
Licenses. At-Bay; Current producer introduction and state table; At-Bay Insurance Services LLC; P&C and surplus-lines identifiers. Accessed 2026-09-21.
12
Licenses and Carriers. Coalition; Licenses and Carriers, re-read 22 September 2026: Insurance Licenses table for Coalition Insurance Solutions, Inc., national producer number 18419475, with producer and surplus-lines numbers for all 50 states and DC including California 0L76155, Georgia 196479, Texas 2199630 and 2205589, Pennsylvania 815731 and 817452, Colorado 539028 and Wisconsin 3000108852. Insurance Carriers table naming, with NAIC numbers, Allianz Underwriters Insurance Company 36420, Arch Specialty Insurance Company 21199, Ascot Specialty Insurance Company 45055, Ascot Insurance Company 23752, Aspen Specialty Insurance Company 10717, Chaucer Insurance Company DAC, Coalition Insurance Company 29530, Fireman's Fund Indemnity Corporation 11380, Fortegra Specialty Insurance Company 16823, Lloyd's of London, MSIG Specialty Insurance USA Inc. 34886, MS Transverse Specialty Insurance Company 41807, Steadfast Insurance Company 26387, Vantage Risk Specialty Insurance Company 16275 and Zurich American Insurance Company 16535. Accessed 2026-09-22.
13
Insurance Producer Licenses. Corgi Insurance; Current complete Insurance Producer Licenses table for Corgi Insurance Services, Inc.; 50 rows covering 49 states and DC (DC 3003091619); no New Mexico row; no NPN or as-of date shown. Accessed 2026-09-28.
14
About Hiscox US Insurance. Hiscox; Hiscox Insurance Company Inc. NAIC 10200 as Chicago, IL domiciled insurer admitted or licensed in all 50 states and D.C.; Hiscox Inc. as general agent and Lloyd’s coverholder for Syndicates 33 and 3624; surplus-lines placements through licensed surplus-lines brokers; A.M. Best rating statement. Accessed 2026-09-16.
15
Licenses. ERGO NEXT Insurance; Current entity-by-state license table reopened 28 September 2026: 50 rows under Next First Insurance Agency, Inc., including Washington, DC; New York rows instead list Next Insurance Services PC-1423070 and AP Intego BR-1198885. Accessed 2026-09-28.
16
Insurance Licenses by State. TechInsurance; Current state table; identifies TechInsurance as a division of Specialty Program Group LLC d/b/a SPG Insurance Solutions; lists DC 3000041536 and labels Rhode Island “Individual licenses,” without an agency license number. Accessed 2026-09-28.
17
Licenses. Vouch; Effective 16 January 2025: Vouch Specialty Insurance Services, LLC, NPN 19926463; P&C table (50 states and DC); surplus-lines table includes Idaho 870820; footnote says Georgia and Idaho do not issue agency-level surplus-lines licenses; Idaho retained as producer-only due to conflict. Accessed 2026-09-15.

What Key Person Insurance Requirements Apply in Maryland?

What Is Key Person Insurance?

What Should You Watch for With Key Person Insurance in Maryland?

Document the Business Interest

Complete Written Notice and Consent

Check the State Guaranty Backstop