Latest California Headlines

Calif. Doc Arrested in Scam

Dec 5 2005 // Ventura County, Calif., District Attorney Gregory Totten has announced that investigators from the District Attorney’s Office Bureau of Investigation has arrested Dr. Kent Pollock, 61, of Newbury Park, Calif., on a...

Calif. Couple, Brothers Nabbed for Felony Auto Fraud Scam

Dec 5 2005 // A husband, his wife and another man have been arrested on felony auto insurance fraud charges following a California Department of Insurance Fraud Division investigation into the alleged theft of the couple’s...

Former Calif. Broker Nabbed on Grand Theft Charges

Dec 5 2005 // A former Beverly Hills, Calif., insurance broker has been arrested and charged with one count of grand theft after an investigation by the California Department of Insurance (CDI) Investigation Division. CDI Investigators...

Calif. Commissioner Announces Team in Bid for Lieutenant Governor

Dec 5 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner and Democratic candidate for Lieutenant Governor John Garamendi has announced his 2006 campaign team, which includes participants in the campaign to defeat Gov. Arnold...

Lawsuit Claims Disability Insurer Sought to Avoid Paying Claims

Dec 5 2005 // UnumProvident Corp., the nation’s largest disability insurer, has systematically sought ways to avoid paying claims to millions of California customers, a lawsuit claims. The lawsuit filed in Superior Court by...

Executive Life Judge Confirms Some $900M in Total Verdicts, Settlements

Dec 5 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has praised a Los Angeles Federal judge’s ruling that the Artemis Co., reportedly a main conspirator in the fraudulent purchase of the Executive Life Insurance Co....

Regulation of Surplus Lines

Dec 4 2005 // Montana House Bill 631 (Signed into law on April 8, 2005) Regulation: This law relates to the revision of surplus lines insurance law and provides that a policy may not be placed with an unauthorized insurer unless the...

Business Moves

Dec 4 2005 // Montana Auditor Adds Two Companies in Captive Insurance Market Montana State Auditor John Morrison has announced the formation of two new Montana companies approved to provide insurance in the captive insurance market. The...

Executive Life Judge Confirms Some $900M in Total Verdicts, Settlements

Dec 4 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has praised a Los Angeles Federal judge’s ruling that the Artemis Co., reportedly a main conspirator in the fraudulent purchase of the Executive Life Insurance Co....

San Diego Contractor Ordered to Pay $37,669 in Restitution to State Fund

Dec 4 2005 // A San Diego County Superior Court has sentenced Valley Center, Calif., businessman John Presley to three years formal probation and ordered him to pay $37,669 in restitution to California’s State Compensation...

Dec 4 2005 // The National Alliance for Insurance Education & Research, Austin, Texas, has announced that two outstanding customer service representatives have received its National Outstanding CSR of the Year Award for 2005:...

Major Insurers, Non-Profits Launch Community-based Healthcare Initiative Impact

Dec 4 2005 // Impact Community Capital LLC, a consortium of major insurance companies, and NCB Development Corp. (NCBDC) have teamed up to offer as much as $50 million in low-interest loans to community health clinics that serve...

News Briefs

Dec 4 2005 // New Online License Service Available for Wash. Agents and Brokers Insurance agents, brokers and other insurance professionals licensed to transact business in Washington can now print copies of their licenses from their...

Calif. Court Rules in Favor of Earthquake Policyholders

Dec 2 2005 // An insurance broker was a representative for the California Fair Plan Insurance Co. with regard to the Northridge earthquake revival statute, which gave policyholders another year to file lawsuits against their insurers in...

Calif. Physician Sentenced to 8 Years in Prison for Fraud

Dec 1 2005 // A Brentwood, California physician who pleaded no contest to fraud charges in three separate cases was sentenced this week to an eight-year prison term and ordered to pay his victims $5 million, the District...

Investigation Requested in Failed California Insurance Company

Dec 1 2005 // Consumer advocates and a government official Wednesday called for prosecutors to investigate the financing of a failed insurance company that left the Los Angeles suburb of Gardena near bankruptcy, saddled with more than...

Broker Who Allegedly Stole $3.8 Million Has 2006 Court Date

Dec 1 2005 // Victims of an insurance broker who allegedly collected $3.8 million for bogus policies through his offices in California, New York and Texas may never recover their money, authorities said. Clarence Joseph Hall III, a San...

Investors Turn Up Heat on Insurers to Disclose Risk from Climate Change

Dec 1 2005 // Citing the risks that they say insurance companies face from losses and financial risks associated with climate change, 20 U.S. investors led by several state treasurers urged 30 of the largest publicly-held insurance...

Calif. Court Dismisses Complaint Against Fremont General

Nov 30 2005 // The Superior Court of California has dismissed the remaining cause of action in an amended complaint filed by the California Insurance Commissioner, on behalf of Fremont Indemnity Co. against Fremont General Corp. The...

Superior Court Decision May Impact Occupational and Medical Clinics

Nov 30 2005 // A Superior Court decision to award Palm Medical Group Inc. $1.13 million in a dispute with State Fund (Palm Medical Group v. State Compensation Insurance Fund (SCIF)) may affect hundreds of other occupational clinics in...