Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Increase in Drones Near Airports Prompts Calls for Tighter Regulation
Aug 10 2015 // A significant increase in close encounters between passenger aircraft and drones is prompting demands from U.S. lawmakers for tighter regulation and enforcement to avoid a fatal collision. Pilots on four airliners spotted...
California Law Agencies Get $34.9M to Fight Workers’ Comp Fraud
Aug 10 2015 // Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has awarded $34.9 million in grants to 37 district attorney offices representing 42 counties in California to combat workers’ compensation insurance fraud. The grants are funded...
California Agency Becomes Consolidated Agency Partners’ 200th Member
Aug 7 2015 // Greg O’Brien Insurance Services in Santa Barbara, Calif. has become Consolidated Agency Partners Inc.’s 200th agency member. Reno, Nev.-based CAP offers a range of commercial and personal carrier products. CAP...
Court Decision May Impact Workers’ Comp Side Agreements in California
Aug 7 2015 // A recent court decision may have the potential to change the practice of side agreements in workers’ compensation policies California, a practice that some say often goes on under the regulatory radar. Zurich...
6 Sentenced in Large Cellphone Insurance Scam in California
Aug 7 2015 // Six people involved in a mobile phone insurance scam in California have been sentenced on felony fraud charges after filing more than 1,300 claims for stolen and damaged phones totaling more than $500,000. The convicted...
Uber Drivers Want to Streamline Suit in California over Employee Status
Aug 7 2015 // Drivers suing Uber Technologies Inc. for better pay and benefits are proposing to pursue their group lawsuit in phases focused first on whether they qualify as employees. If they win that round, then the two sides can...
California Court Hands Down $55M in Decision Against Three AIG Companies
Aug 7 2015 // An Alameda County, Calif., jury has awarded Pennsylvania-based Victaulic Co., $55.3 in damages against three AIG companies. The trial in Victaulic Co. v. American Home Assurance Co. et al., in Alameda County Superior Court...
California Oil Spill Might be Larger Than Thought, Company Says
Aug 6 2015 // Plains All American Pipeline LP’s ruptured California oil pipeline may have spilled 41 percent more crude than currently estimated, the company said on Wednesday. In a presentation accompanying Plains’...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Premiums Growing at Double-Digit Rates
Aug 5 2015 // Workers’ compensation premiums in California continue to grow at double-digit rates, according to the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau. The WCIRB recently released its “State of the...
Firefighters Make Progress Against Raging California Wildfire
Aug 5 2015 // Firefighters are reporting some progress against a Northern California wildfire that has charred more than 100 square miles of terrain, destroying buildings, threatening many others and sending thousands of residents...
McIntyre Joins Alliant in Southern California
Aug 4 2015 // Alliant Insurance Services has named Patrick McIntyre the Alliant Americas division first vice president within the Sacramento, Calif. office. McIntyre will be responsible for the delivery of property/casualty and...
Wet Weather Helps in Battling Massive California Wildfire
Aug 4 2015 // Cooler, wetter weather helped crews make inroads Monday against a massive Northern California wildfire that tore through two dozen homes, threatened thousands more and forced 12,000 people to flee the flames. The largest...
California, Pacific Northwest Schools Get $4M for Earthquake Early Warning Systems
Aug 3 2015 // The U.S. Geological Survey has awarded $4 million to four universities in the Pacific Northwest and California to boost the development of earthquake early warning systems. The University of Washington, the University of...
Uber, Driver Attorneys Steering Toward Crucial California Hearing
Aug 3 2015 // Uber Technologies Inc. is jostling with drivers suing for reimbursement of their expenses in advance of an important hearing next week in the fight over whether drivers are independent contractors or employees entitled to...
Raging California Wildfire Jumps Containment
Aug 3 2015 // Firefighters aided by lower temperatures and higher humidity have made progress corralling a wildfire threatening thousands of homes in Northern California. California Department of Forestry and Fire Protection Capt. Don...
People – West
Aug 3 2015 // Wells Fargo Insurance has named Chris Calvert head of its newly established client experience team. Calvert will lead a team focused on strengthening customer service. She is based in Highlands Ranch, Colo., and she...
California’s COIN Program Generates “Tens of Millions” in Community Funds
Aug 3 2015 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones in July paid homage to the insurance industry for “tens of millions” of charitable dollars that came from the insurance industry as part of the California Organized...
Cal Fire Captain, Insurance Agent Brother Arrested for Insurance Fraud
Aug 3 2015 // A California Fire captain and his insurance agent brother have been arrested for insurance fraud. Neal Moriarty, 38, a Cal Fire captain, and Ross Moriarty, 42, a licensed insurance agent, were arrested in late July on...
Jury Awards $10M to Family of Teen Who Died at California Facility
Aug 3 2015 // The family of a teenage boy who died at a Mission Viejo care facility has been awarded more than $10 million for damages relating to the boy’s death. Fifteen-year-old Kevin Barr died at a Lonika’s Home Inc....
Report on California Workers’ Comp Reforms Touts Successes
Aug 3 2015 // The Department of Industrial Relations and its Division of Workers’ Compensation have released a report on progress implementing California’s workers’ compensation reforms. The report details increased...
