Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Legislative Session Positive on Insurance Issues
Sep 15 2008 // This year’s California legislative session has been a relatively positive one for property/casualty insurers and their customers, according to the Association of California Insurance Companies. Legislators generally...
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. Acquires California Insurance Center
Sep 12 2008 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired California Insurance Center, Inc. of Lafayette, Calif. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1929, California Insurance Center Inc. is a retail insurance broker...
Ranch Blamed for Calif. Landslide to Sell Assets
Sep 10 2008 // A ranch company found negligent in a 2005 landslide that killed 10 people has agreed to sell its assets to pay for damages, the plaintiffs announced. A jury in August faulted La Conchita Ranch Co. for failing to build...
Hub International Acquires Fredricksen Insurance Services
Sep 10 2008 // Chicago-based Hub International Ltd. has acquired Fredricksen Insurance Services, a Hemet, Calif., agency, as well as acquired PMT, Fredricksen’s retail brokerage subsidiary. Fredricksen’s operations will...
California To Discuss PAYD Auto Insurance on Oct. 20
Sep 10 2008 // The California Department of Insurance has announced that it will host a public hearing at 10 a.m. on Oct. 20, 2008, in San Francisco, to discuss Commissioner Steve Poizner’s proposed pay-as-you-drive auto insurance...
California in Holding Pattern on Insurance Bills
Sep 9 2008 // With Democratic and Republican legislators unable to agree on a budget since California’s fiscal year began on July 1, 2008, many state services — as well as insurance bills — are at a standstill. Gov....
Ah-Tye Appointed Chief Counsel at California State Fund
Sep 9 2008 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund has promoted Suzanne Ah-Tye to chief counsel of the Legal Department. Ah-Tye brings more than 25 years of State Fund legal experience to her new post. She began her...
California Workers’ Comp Division Strengthens Judges’ Ethics Rules
Sep 9 2008 // California’s Division of Workers’ Compensation has adopted revised ethics regulations governing workers’ compensation judges. According to the DWC, the rules and regulations “are designed to enforce...
Parties Can Contract for Expanded Judicial Review of Arbitration Awards
Sep 3 2008 // The California Supreme Court held that under the California Arbitration Act (CAA), parties to an arbitration agreement may agree to expanded judicial review of an arbitration award for legal error, according to Cable...
California Senate Committee Passes Pay-As-You-Drive Legislation
Sep 1 2008 // Legislation that would allow insurers to more accurately base auto insurance premiums on how many miles a motorist drives passed the California Senate Appropriations Committee. Proposition 103 requires insurers to set...
California Proposes 16% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Sep 1 2008 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California indicated it plans to submit a filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) recommending a 16 percent increase in pure premium rates effective...
California Legislature Passes Agent-Broker Bill
Sep 1 2008 // California Assembly Bill 2956, which will clarify the duties of an agent versus those of a broker, has passed both the state Assembly and Senate. The bill will now be held at the Assembly desk until the state budget is...
Fires Bring Calif. to the Brink; Schwarzenegger Proposes Insurance Surcharge
Sep 1 2008 // Faced with hundreds of big, hard-to-control blazes, California is struggling with what could be its most expensive firefighting season ever, burning through $285 million in the past two months alone and up to $13 million a...
AmWINS Insurance Brokerage Names Manassero VP in California
Aug 29 2008 // Brian Manassero has joined AmWINS Insurance Brokerage of California’s Chatsworth office as a vice president. He will specialize in property and product liability placements, and has 12 years of insurance industry...
Appeals Court Throws out $241 Million Award in Executive Life Suit
Aug 27 2008 // An appeals court on Monday, Aug. 25, 2008, tossed out a $241 million award won by the state of California in a lawsuit stemming from the takeover of failed insurer Executive Life by French investors. The 9th U.S. Circuit...
California Commissioner Proposes Pay-As-You-Drive Regulations
Aug 27 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has proposed regulations that would make green auto insurance option available for California consumers. If implemented, pay-as-you-drive auto insurance would allow motorists...
California Drop Lowers U.S. Workers’ Compensation Payments
Aug 26 2008 // U.S. workers’ compensation payments for medical care and cash benefits for workers disabled by workplace injuries or diseases declined in 2006, according to a study released by the National Academy of Social...
California Names Deputy Commissioner of Enforcement Branch
Aug 26 2008 // California Department of Insurance Fraud Division Bureau Chief Rick Plein has been appointed deputy commissioner of the Enforcement Branch. Plein will replace retiring Deputy Commissioner Dale Banda. Plein has more than 19...
California State Fund Makes Two Staff Appointments
Aug 26 2008 // Stephen Ray has been appointed manager of the Utilization Review and Lien Unit for California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Claims/Rehabilitation Department. Ray was hired as a claims adjuster in the...
More Farm Deaths in California Heat
Aug 22 2008 // California, the nation’s leader in heat-related deaths among farmworkers, sought to turn that trend around three years ago with new laws aimed at ensuring people toiling in sweltering fields had such basics as a...
