Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Survey: 22,700-Plus Wildfire Insurance Claims Filed in Calif.
Nov 29 2007 // The Insurance Information Network of California has confirmed that at least 22,700 claims filed from October’s Southern California fire and wind storms. The tally includes at least 2,000 insurance claims for damage...
Calif. Commissioner Approves No Change in Workers’ Comp Pure Premium Rates
Nov 29 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has issued a decision approving no overall change to the state’s advisory pure premium workers’ compensation rates for 2008. On Sept. 20, 2007, the Workers...
Calif. SCIF Names Claims Manager in Sacramento
Nov 28 2007 // Jürg Morach has been named claims manager for California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Sacramento District Office. Morach brings more than 18 years of State Fund experience to his new post. He was...
Calif. Commissioner Files Uninsured Motorist Ballot Initiative
Nov 27 2007 // Proving rumors true, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner has filed a draft ballot initiative with the state Attorney General’s office designed to reduce the number of uninsured motorists on state roads...
Calif. State Fund Holds Line On 2008 Rates
Nov 27 2007 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund has announced the filing of its Jan. 1, 2008, rating plan, making no change in the average collectible rate level. SCIF held the line on rates despite the Workers’...
Bliss and Glennon Offers Garage Liability Market in Calif.
Nov 21 2007 // Bliss and Glennon Inc. has a market for garage liability including garage keepers legal liability in California. The new Internet rating system is designed to provide agents with the best quote among the carriers the...
Calif. Sues Manufacturers of Toys with Lead
Nov 19 2007 // California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. and Los Angeles City Attorney Rockard J. Delgadillo today sued 20 companies for manufacturing or selling toys with “unlawful quantities of lead.” Commenting on...
Calif. State Fund Promotes Two
Nov 19 2007 // Maria Rosario D. Martinez has been appointed claims manager of Los Angeles Claims Services in the California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Glendale office. Martinez began her State Fund career in 1987 servicing...
Catastrophic Events Raise Business Interruption Questions
Nov 18 2007 // Agents advised to discuss extended coverage provisions and contingent business interruption insurance Several recent and relatively recent events — the wildfires in southern California, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005...
Catastrophic Events Raise BI Coverage Questions
Nov 18 2007 // Several recent and relatively recent events — the wildfires in southern California, Hurricane Katrina in August 2005 and the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks — have raised awareness of how, and whether, business...
Class Action Lawsuits Abound in California
Nov 18 2007 // California is still a happy hunting ground for class action lawyers — despite the 2005 federal class action reforms designed to move many national class action cases into federal courts, according to a review by the...
Calif. Wants to Crack Down on Uninsured Motorists
Nov 18 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner is reportedly exploring the possibility of a ballot measure next year designed to get uninsured motorists off the state’s roads and highways. Industry sources confirmed...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Premium Rates Declining
Nov 18 2007 // The Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California reported written premium for the first six months of 2007 at an estimated $6.9 billion, approximately 23 percent below the written premium reported for the...
Firefighters Warn of Continued Wildfire Threat in California
Nov 18 2007 // Rapid development in wildfire-prone areas and continued bone-dry weather have alarmed California firefighters, who began a sweeping assessment of fire danger and what’s needed to meet it. Catastrophic wildfires that...
People
Nov 18 2007 // Munich Reinsurance America Inc. announced that John P. Phelan will retire as planned on Dec. 31, 2007, after serving nearly six years as chairman and CEO. Anthony J. Kuczinski, who is president of Munich Re America’s...
Declarations
Nov 18 2007 // Calif. Class Actions “Data shows that a state like California — with a huge population and laws tilted against defendants — remains a major forum for class action lawsuits, despite the 2005 federal Class Action...
American Vehicle Approved as Surplus Line Carrier in Calif.
Nov 15 2007 // Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.-based 21st Century Holding Co., an insurance holding company, announced that it’s subsidiary, American Vehicle Insurance Company, has received approval to begin writing commercial general...
Calif. Commissioner Names New General Counsel
Nov 15 2007 // Following a nationwide search, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced his choice for general counsel at the Department of Insurance. Adam M. Cole comes to the DOI from the San Francisco-based office of...
S&P Report Examines Calif. Earthquake Insurance Coverage
Nov 14 2007 // As if Southern California’s recent devastating wildfires weren’t enough, the Golden State got a second jolt on Oct. 30 via a 5.6 magnitude earthquake just outside of San Jose. An article published by Standard...
Safeco Estimates Calif. Wildfire Losses at $35 Million
Nov 12 2007 // Seattle-based Safeco is estimating that claims stemming from the recent California wildfires will amountto $35 million in pretax catastrophe losses. That figure represents the estimated losses both from claims received...
