Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

Calif. Aims for 5.2% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase

Nov 4 2007 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has recommended that pure premium rates in the state be increased to 5.2 percent, instead of the 4.2 percent recommended earlier in September. In...

People

Nov 4 2007 // Bermuda-based Catlin Group Ltd. appointed Nick Greggains chief underwriting officer for insurance, and Andrew Englesbe chief underwriting officer for reinsurance for Catlin U.S. Both will be responsible for insurance and...

Calif. Approves AAA’s 6.5% Auto Rate Reduction

Nov 4 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner along with officials from California State Automobile Association Inter-Insurance Bureau (CSAA-IIB, or AAA of Northern California) in Sacramento and San Francisco announced...

Calif. Low Cost Auto Program Implemented

Nov 4 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced his final determination of need for the California Low Cost Automobile Insurance program in Alpine, Colusa, Del Norte, Glenn, Inyo, Lassen, Mariposa, Modoc, Mono,...

News Currents

Nov 4 2007 // Calif. DOI partners with CAL FIRE to prevent fire losses A helicopter moves in close to wildfire flames to make a water drop over the Del Dios neighborhood of Escondido, Calif. (AP Photo/Denis Poroy). Just days before...

Business Moves

Nov 4 2007 // Engle Martin & Associates Engle Martin & Associates Inc., a national independent insurance adjusting and claims administration firm based in Atlanta, is extending its presence in California by opening a...

California agencies come to the aid of clients, employees

Nov 4 2007 // While the losses from Southern California’s wildfires are still being tallied, parallels are being drawn between October’s blazes and 2003’s Cedar and Old Fires, which struck in many of the same areas....

10 Calif. DOI partners with CAL FIRE

Nov 4 2007 // Groups aim to prevent fire losses during height of wildfire season 10 Hawaii approves 19.3% workers’ comp decrease NCCI recommended 16.8 percent drop 10 Calif. approves AAA’s 6.5% auto rate reduction Carrier...

Major California Wildfires

Nov 4 2007 // Oakland Hills Oct. 1991 2,900 $1.7 billion Cedar Fire Oct. 2003 2,200 $1.06 billion Old Fire Oct. 2003 1,100 $975 million Laguna Oct. 1993 441 $350 million Topanga-Malibu Nov. 1993 323 $375 million Santa Barbara June...

Top 20 California Homeowners Insurance Groups in 2006

Nov 4 2007 // ($ in millions) Company Name Written Premium Market Share 1 State Farm (Ill.) 1,436.03 21.78% 2 Zurich Ins. Group (Farmers Ins. Group) 1,118.12 16.96% 3 Allstate Ins. Group 887.88 13.47% 4 California State Auto...

News Currents

Nov 4 2007 // Catastrophic wildfires sweep across Southern California Industry estimates insured losses at more than $1.5 billion and rising Insured losses are continuing to accumulate from Southern California wildfires that burned in...

States under cover

Nov 4 2007 // Natural catastrophes — and the affordability and availability of property insurance in disaster-prone areas — have been on center stage in coastal states from the Northeast to the Gulf Coast. This fall, the...

Bentley Named Attorney In Charge for Calif. State Fund

Nov 2 2007 // Charles Bentley has been promoted to attorney-in-charge for California State Compensation Insurance Fund’s Riverside Legal Department. Bentley joined State Fund in 1992, when he was hired as a claims adjuster for the...

Consumer Group Says Calif. Commissioner’s Aide Helped Insurers in Lawsuit

Nov 2 2007 // The Foundation for Taxpayer and Consumer Rights is claiming a former insurance industry lawyer, a senior counsel to California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, covertly assisted insurance companies in a lawsuit they...

Fraud Disaster Task Force Formed in Wake of Disaster

Nov 2 2007 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, San Diego District Attorney Bonnie Dumanis and San Diego Sheriff Bill Kolender’s Office announced the creation of a special task force to fight fraud. This task force...

Calif. AG Sues Drywall Contractor

Nov 1 2007 // Citing the threat of a “shadowy, underground economy,” California Attorney General Edmund G. Brown Jr. sued the Brinas Corp., a Los Angeles drywall contractor that unlawfully forced its employees to work...

Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation Launches Firestorm Relief Effort

Nov 1 2007 // In response to the wildfire disaster in California, the Insurance Industry Charitable Foundation has established the Industry Foundation Firestorm Response on behalf of the industry and its partners. All online...

Calif. Sees Downward Trend in Workplace Injuries, Accidents

Nov 1 2007 // The California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR) announced that workplace injuries and accidents declined in California in 2006 in all but four of 19 key industries compared to 2005. Overall workplace injuries and...

Calif. Wildfire Claims Up To About 14,000

Oct 31 2007 // Roughly 14,000 insurance claims have been filed as a result of last week’s fire and wind storms, according to the Insurance Information Network of California. Working in partnership with the Insurance Information...

Schwarzenegger Announces Additional Assistance for Fire Victims

Oct 30 2007 // California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has announced cash grants of up to $10,000 are available to help some individuals who have suffered losses in the Southern California fires. The grants are administered by the...