Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Insurers Try to Prevent Losses in Wildfire Hotspots
May 21 2007 // Spooked by devastating wildfire seasons, the nation’s top insurers are inspecting homes in high-risk areas throughout the West and threatening to cancel coverage if owners don’t clear brush or take other...
Calif. Workers’ Comp Permanent Disability Cuts Ruled Not Legal
May 21 2007 // A Workers Compensation Appeals Board judge has invalidated California’s rating schedule that cut injured workers’ permanent disability compensation. According to the California Applicant Attorneys Association,...
Calif. court limits employers’ liability in workers’ comp
May 21 2007 // The California Supreme Court has ruled that workers’ compensation reforms adopted in 2004 do not supersede employer apportionment of compensation for permanent disability injuries. In reviewing cases from five...
Allstate to stop writing homeowners in Calif.
May 21 2007 // Allstate has announced that as of July 1, 2007, it will stop offering new homeowners and landlord package polices (LPP) in California. The announcement does not affect existing property insurance customers in...
People and Places
May 21 2007 // Liberty Northwest, a member of Liberty Mutual Group based in Portland, Ore., appointed Larry W. Becker president and chief operating officer. Becker most recently was executive vice president, sales and marketing for...
Three Calif. Doctors Arrested in Outpatient Surgery Center Scam
May 17 2007 // The California Department of Insurance and the Orange County District Attorney’s Office have arrested three doctors for medical fraud. The doctors are the latest charged defendants in what’s being dubbed the...
Fire Outlook: 2007 Wildfire Season Looks Wicked
May 15 2007 // Fire scientists are predicting an above-average wildfire season from May through August 2007, according to the National Interagency Fire Center Predictive Services Group based in Boise, Idaho. In its “National...
S&P Lowers Mercury’s Ratings to ‘AA-‘
May 14 2007 // Standard & Poor’s Ratings Services has lowered its counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Mercury Casualty Co. (Mercury Casualty), Mercury Insurance Co. (Mercury Insurance), and its financial...
NCCI Reiterates “Optimistic but Cautious” Outlook for Workers Comp
May 11 2007 // The workers compensation calendar year combined ratio stands at 96.5 percent — the best underwriting result in at least 30 years and the first underwriting profit for the line since 1995 according to NCCI Holdings...
Allstate To Cease Issuing New Homeowners Policies in Calif.
May 11 2007 // Allstate has announced that as of July 1, 2007, it will stop offering new homeowners and landlord package polices (LPP) in California. The announcement does not affect its existing property insurance customers in...
Calif. State Fund Appoints West VP
May 11 2007 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund has promoted David West to vice president and member of the Executive Committee. West brings 27 years of State Fund experience to his new post. He started his career in...
Blue Cross and Canceled Calif. Policyholders Agree to Settlement
May 11 2007 // A class action settlement has been reached with Blue Cross of California, a Wellpoint subsidiary, concerning the cancellation of health insurance policies that occur after a claim for pre-authorized medical treatment. From...
Workers in Four More Calif. Counties Eligible for Freeze Assistance
May 10 2007 // Workers in California’s Kings, Madera, Merced, and Stanislaus counties who lost their jobs due to the January’s freeze are eligible for disaster unemployment assistance under a federal program. The U.S....
Calif. Supreme Court Limits Employers’ Liability in Workers’ Comp
May 9 2007 // The California Supreme Court has ruled that workers’ compensation reforms adopted in 2004 do not supersede employer apportionment of compensation for permanent disability injuries. In reviewing cases from five...
My New Markets
May 7 2007 // Earthquake Nuts and Bolts: Wholesale Connection Insurance Services, located in Woodland Hills, Calif., added a new carrier to its list of Earthquake markets in California. Dollars: Capacity in zones A, B and E is...
Business Moves
May 7 2007 // Aviva The U.K.-based Aviva Group announced plans to expand in Russia. One year ago, the company launched Aviva Russia, and it is now poised to enter the direct sales market with its Moscow-based direct sales force. The...
Calif. OAL rules agent-broker relationships case not “precedential”
May 7 2007 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) has been handed a procedural setback in its effort to crack down on agents charging broker fees. Last week, the California Office of Administrative Law (OAL) determined that...
California Assembly Insurance Committee passes fraud measure
May 7 2007 // California’s Assembly Insurance Committee has passed Assembly Bill (AB) 1401 on a bi-partisan 8-0 vote. According to the California Department of Insurance, the measure would provide the DOI with additional...
Case Law Watch
May 7 2007 // Anti-assignment Clause Holloway v. Republic Indemnity Co. of America (Oregon, Nov. 16, 2006) Ruling: At issue on this appeal was whether an anti-assignment clause that provided that “[y]our rights or duties under...
News Currents
May 7 2007 // California susceptible to class action lawsuits California’s class action law ranks 46th in the nation in fairness and reasonableness, according to an annual national ranking of state civil justice systems. The only...
