Calif. Banks Form WC Group

An independent banks self-insurance group being formed in California says it expects to realize savings of 20% to 30% on workers’ compensation costs.

Creation of the Independent Banks Self-Insurance Group, or IB-SIG, follows the lead of other groups in the state that have formed SIGs. Those include public entities, two auto groups, and a group of private schools, Kim Santin, executive director with Bickmore Risk Services, administrator of the bank SIG, tells National Underwriter.

“Workers’ compensation costs are one of our highest priorities to decrease expenses at our bank,” Mark Day of NVB Business Bank of Woodland said in a statement. The formation of a bank self-insurance group “makes sense not only to control costs but also to take even greater advantage of the recent state workers’ compensation reforms,” he says.

IB-SIG–which recently received approval from the FDIC–will provide the umbrella organization under which the member banks will operate. Since 1993, state regulations have allowed 2 or more employers within the same industry to form a nonprofit mutual benefit corporation to self-insure workers’ comp, Bickmore notes.