Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Court Denies Class Action Suit Against American Honda
Jan 13 2012 // American Honda Motor Co. won a legal victory as a divided U.S. appeals court on Thursday said a nationwide lawsuit over a brake system used in some Acura RL vehicles should not have been certified as a class-action. The...
Jones Announces Insurance Diversity Task Force for California
Jan 12 2012 // Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday announced the formation of an Insurance Diversity Task Force to make recommendations about diversity in the insurance industry, including the diversity of corporate governing...
Direct-Link Acquires Southern California Firm Cumbre
Jan 12 2012 // Direct-Link Holding Group LLC has acquired Cumbre Insurance Services’ commercial insurance division in Ontario, Calif. Cumbre Inc. operates both a commercial insurance and public entity division. Cumbre’s...
Unitedhealthcare Of California And LISI Team Up
Jan 11 2012 // UnitedHealthcare and LISI, a San Mateo, Calif.-based medical insurance brokerage, are joining in a partnership to bring health benefits packages to small businesses in California. LISI will make available UnitedHealthcare...
UPA Insurance Brokers in Northern California Acquired by Risk Strategies
Jan 11 2012 // Millbrae, Calif.-based UPA Insurance Brokers has been acquired by Risk Strategies Co., a national insurance brokerage and risk management firm headquartered in Boston. The acquisition was announced on Wednesday. Terms of...
Outpatient Costs Higher in States Without Fee Schedules: Workers’ Comp Study
Jan 11 2012 // States without fee schedules have higher hospital outpatient costs for common surgeries compared to states with fee schedules, according to a workers’ compensation study. The study found that significant variations...
California Department of Insurance: $54 Million Recovered in 2011
Jan 10 2012 // The California Department of Insurance recovered more than $54 million for consumers through consumer complaint investigations and market conduct examinations of insurance companies in 2011, California Insurance...
Arson Suspected At California’s Biggest Beef Processor
Jan 10 2012 // Investigators say arson is suspected in a blaze that destroyed 14 big-rig tractors and several trailers at California’s Harris Farms cattle operation, the state’s largest cattle feeder, beef processor and beef...
People
Jan 9 2012 // The board of directors of the National Insurance Producer Registry (NIPR) re-elected Alaska Insurance Director Linda Hall as NIPR president during its Dec. 13, 2011, meeting in Chicago. Hall has been a member of the NIPR...
Consumer Group Hammers Mercury Rate Increase Filing in California
Jan 9 2012 // A California consumer group is challenging a rate hike bid by Mercury Insurance because the group claims the company is trying to pass along the costs of its political campaigning. But the insurer says those costs are not...
Under Construction
Jan 9 2012 // Apartment Builders see Uptick in Market Changing demographics and new economic realities are driving more people away from homeownership in the suburbs and into rental properties and apartments in many areas around the...
Business Moves
Jan 9 2012 // Neff Risk, Cochrane Neff Risk and Cochrane and Co. are officially one. The combined company will operate under the name Cochrane and Company and be headquartered in Spokane, Wash. The resulting footprint of the merger will...
California Arson Suspect Also Faces German Fire Probe
Jan 6 2012 // The man who allegedly ignited more than 50 fires that terrorized Los Angeles last week is also under investigation in Germany for a house fire near Frankfurt. U.S. investigators also disclosed that a search of Harry...
Finston Named California Deputy Insurance Commissioner
Jan 6 2012 // John F. Finston has accepted an appointment to be Deputy Commissioner for Corporate & Regulatory Affairs at the California Department of Insurance. Finston was the head of SNR Denton’s insurance regulation...
Western Insurance Agents Roundtable Discussion Highlights
Jan 5 2012 // Rancho Cordova, Calif.-based WIAA Education & Research Foundation, a nonprofit corporation focused on advancing knowledge of insurance industry professionals, hosted a recent roundtable discussion on the industry and...
California Based Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Purchased by AmTrust
Jan 5 2012 // Rocklin, Calif.-based Builders & Tradesmen’s Insurance Services Inc. (BTIS) has been purchased by AmTrust Financial Services Inc. BTIS is an insurance wholesaler and general agent specializing in the procurement...
Willis Names Richardson Regional Partner In Northern California
Jan 5 2012 // Willis North America has named Jason Richardson as Regional Partner of Northern California. The appointment is effective immediately. Richardson will be based in San Francisco, Calif. Richardson will oversee Willis’...
Honda Owner Bypasses Class Action in California, Hopes Others Follow
Jan 4 2012 // A woman who expected her 2006 Honda Civic Hybrid to be her dream car wants Honda to pay for not delivering the high mileage it promised. But rather than joining other owners in a class-action lawsuit, she is going solo in...
Safeco Names Mitchell Regional General Manager For California
Jan 4 2012 // Safeco Insurance named Diane Mitchell as the company’s new regional general manager for California. The change was effective Jan. 2. During her time at Safeco, Mitchell has held a variety of roles. Most recently, she...
Jones Announces Joint Effort to Fight California’s ‘Underground Economy’
Dec 29 2011 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) is joining with the Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) and other agencies to fight labor law and insurance-related violations in an “underground economy.” The...
