Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PG&E Has Settled One Battle Involving California Wildfire Fund
Mar 11 2020 // Pacific Gas & Electric told a federal bankruptcy judge that it has settled a dispute with disaster-relief agencies that threatened to siphon money away from a $13.5 billion fund earmarked for victims of catastrophic...
Insurance Office of America Names Cohen in California to Cannabis Team
Mar 11 2020 // Insurance Office of America has added Aaron Cohen to its Western region. Aaron will expand the firm’s team of cannabis industry specialists as a risk management consultant. He will be based in Encino, Calif. Aaron...
Insurance Industry Is Being Dragged Into Subsidizing Illegal Marijuana Grow Houses
Mar 11 2020 // GARDEN GROVE, Calif. — While California has a $1.4 billion legal marijuana market, a black market of perhaps equal size is thriving. Some enterprising growers are working on ways to get home insurers to cover their...
California Governor Names Hagen Department of Industrial Relations Director
Mar 10 2020 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom has named Katrina S. Hagen director of the California Department of Industrial Relations. She fills the position vacated by former director Christine Baker, who retired in 2018. Hagen, 47, of...
Large Earthquake off Coast of Northern California Confirmed
Mar 10 2020 // A magnitude 5.9 earthquake struck a spot off the coast of Northern California on Sunday, the U.S. Geological Survey confirmed. The earthquake hit at 6:59 p.m. and was centered in a spot 55.5 miles west of Ferndale, a town...
Program: 10K-Plus Homes in California Retrofitted to Reduce Earthquake Damage
Mar 9 2020 // The California Earthquake Authority’s Earthquake Brace + Bolt program has reached the milestone of aiding more than 10,000 California homeowners to seismically retrofit their homes. The EBB grant program provides...
Surplus Lines Association of California Makes Executives Staff Moves
Mar 9 2020 // The Surplus Line Association of California announced on Monday that Pat McAuley, who had served most recently as the senior vice president for the education and compliance department, officially retired on Feb. 28 after...
Realign Capital Strategies in California Names McAuliffe Partner
Mar 9 2020 // San Diego, Calif.-based Realign Capital Strategies LLC has named Tim McAuliffe a partner. McAuliffe is an underwriter with more than 25 years of experience in various lines of business. He previously spent 10 years with...
California Father and Son Charged With Auto Insurance Fraud
Mar 9 2020 // A father and son from California have been charged with felony counts of auto insurance fraud after allegedly falsifying an insurance claim in order to receive an undeserved payout from an insurance company. The charges...
California FAIR Plan Can Offer Only Fire Insurance, Judge Says
Mar 9 2020 // A fund that offers only fire insurance to California residents in wildfire-prone areas can’t be required to provide coverage for other hazards such as flooding or theft, a judge ruled in late February. Superior Court...
Alleged Family-Run Auto Insurance Fraud Ring Snared in California
Mar 9 2020 // California Department of Insurance detectives arrested seven suspects on 31 felony charges of auto insurance fraud for their alleged involvement in a family-run organized auto fraud ring dubbed Operation Car...
California Public Utilities Commission Fines PG&E $2.1B over Wildfires
Mar 9 2020 // The California Public Utilities Commission issued an administrative law judge decision imposing $2.137 billion in penalties against Pacific Gas and Electric Company for the utility’s role in the catastrophic 2017 and...
Topa in California Names Stern Director of Claims Auditing and Compliance
Mar 6 2020 // Calabasas, Calif.-based Topa Insurance Co. has named Kari Stern director of claims auditing and compliance. Stern is responsible for department-wide legal and regulatory compliance, and manages the internal and external...
One U.S. State May Look at Insurers’ Fossil Fuel Investments and Underwriting to Combat Climate Change
Mar 5 2020 // A Connecticut lawmaker has plans for a bill that not only calls for the state to look at which insurers have fossil fuel investments – a growing trend among government entities as of late – but also which ones are...
PG&E Not Committing to Expanding Tree-Trimming Force in California
Mar 4 2020 // Lawyers for Pacific Gas & Electric said the utility can’t commit to hiring hundreds more tree trimmers in the way that a federal judge wants to cut the risk of starting more catastrophic wildfires in...
Earthquake Risk Prompts Order to Drain California Dam
Mar 4 2020 // Worried that an earthquake could collapse a big dam south of San Francisco, officials have ordered its reservoir to be completely drained by October to reduce the risk of floodwaters spilling into Silicon Valley. The...
Alliant Names de Dreuzy in California to Head Benefits Practice
Mar 3 2020 // Newport Beach, Calf.-based Alliant Insurance Services Inc. has named Philippe de Dreuzy to head up its global benefits practice as senior vice president and global practice leader. Dreuzy will be based in the San Francisco...
Family-run Auto Insurance Fraud Ring Snared in ‘Operation Car Seats’ in California
Mar 3 2020 // California Department of Insurance detectives arrested seven suspects on 31 felony charges of auto insurance fraud for their alleged involvement in a family-run organized auto fraud ring dubbed Operation Car...
California Residents Sue Nearby Cannabis Growers Over Smell
Mar 2 2020 // The smell of marijuana has driven some residents of the Southern California city of Carpinteria to sue local growers. The lawsuit filed last week contends the growers should seal their greenhouses and use...
Agency M&As: Private Equity Still in Driver’s Seat; Digital Agencies Attract Attention
Mar 2 2020 // The private equity bandwagon continued to roll through the insurance agency and brokerage mergers and acquisitions territory in 2019. As many as two-thirds of all deals involved private equity, according to experts. Most...
