In November of 1995, 12 plumbers and a general contractor were so fed up with Nevada’s monopolistic worker’s compensation bureaucracy that they broke away from SIIS (now EICON) to form Nevada Contractors Network Self-Insured Group.

It was not without risk, and pretty amazing, since each member pledged to pay each other’s losses in the event there wasn’t enough money in the claims fund. That knew from day one that loss control and claims handling were going to make or break the group. Possibly, it would make or break their own businesses.

The Builders Board of Directors are shown here, from left to right:
Jim Barnett, Henry Sharp, Tom Wheeler, Jack Schreiner, Larry Long,
Ken Cox, Jerry Peck, Sal Gugino, and Wayne Harris.

With this daunting prospect in mind, the real possibility they might have to dip into their own pockets if their group failed, they assembled a team to make sure it was successful.

Tom Wheeler, owner of Insurance Solutions, had investigated the idea of going self-insured for the contractors, and helped get the NCN off the ground. With insurance, there is safety in numbers, so Tom was given the job of Marketing Director and charged with making the group grow.

A retired cop turned claims manager was brought in from a Montana self-insured group where he gained a reputation for stopping fraudulent claims. Jack Schreiner's mission was clear from the beginning: If it's a legitimate claim, pay it. If it's fraud, shut it down.

The next piece of the puzzle was the administrator. The group needed a savvy insurance professional with national alternative risk management ties and experience.

They found that in Wayne Harris of Risk Services-Nevada. Wayne's first duty was to hire Ron Landram, a former OSHA enforcement supervisor with a gift for safety programs that really work. The philosophy was that the cheapest claim was the one that didn't happen.

For the most part, claims did not happen. When they did, Jack Schreiner investigated them quickly and thoroughly. Where fraud was suspected, surveillance was conducted, evidence gathered, and the claims denied.

When the group went to court, they had their own attorneys.

Smarter, better, and more aggressive than their opponents, BIC's attorneys, led by Sal Gugino of Gugino Law Firm, built a reputation fighting for employer's rights and battling fraudulent or drug-abuse based claims.

The group kept growing, the strict claims and loss control paid off, and the premium went up and up and up. From 12 members in 1995, the NCN boasted more than 400 in 2000, by far the largest and most successful group of it's kind in Nevada. It was time to take the next step.

In March of 2000, Nevada Contractors Network Self-Insured Group became Nevada Contractors Insurance Company, Inc, the first "captive insurer" in Nevada, and Builders Insurance Company, Inc., a domestic Nevada insurance company.

Quickly Builders Insurance Company became the 2nd largest writer of workers' comp in the state of Nevada.

A pretty amazing story, but it doesn't end there. As an insured of Builders Insurance Company, you are part of an unfolding story that is continuing to make history. "Only One Can Be The Best!"