For nearly a quarter of a century, companies that were finding it hard to get liability insurance, or to get it at a reasonable rate, have had the option of linking up with other businesses and forming their own so-called risk retention group (RRG)–basically a collective captive insurance company that shares the risk across the group.

Now, a bipartisan effort is under way in the House of Representatives to extend that option to companies that want to insure property.

Reps. Dennis Moore (D-Ky.) and John Campbell (R-Calif.) have introduced the Risk Retention Modernization Bill of 2010 in the House Financial Services Committee, hoping to either win passage by Congress outright or add the measure as an amendment to financial reform legislation currently working its way through both houses.