Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Independent Banks Partner to Save on Calif. Workers’ Comp Costs
May 19 2005 // Facing ever-increasing workers’ compensation costs, a group of California banks received approval from the FDIC and filed an application with the State of California to form a self-insurance group (SIG) and is...
CDI Reveals Former Highland Framers Owners Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison, $3.1M Restitution
May 19 2005 // Investigators announced that Jay Neal Wright, 52, a former Bay Area businessman and owner of Highland Framers of Northern California Inc., was formally sentenced in Alameda County Superior Court to three years in state...
Insurers Lose in Stringfellow Acid Pits Jury Trial
May 18 2005 // Insurance companies must pay to clean up a hazardous waste dump, the Stringfellow Acid Pits. A Riverside County, California jury on May 16, 2005 found in favor of the State of California and against CNA, Wausau, Yosemite,...
Calif. Contractor Sentenced in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case; Will Pay State Fund $605,940
May 17 2005 // The owner of a Corona, California-based construction firm has begun serving a two-year jail sentence as part of his conviction on felony workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Lawrence S. Hatfield, 59, of Orange...
Calif. Woman Pleads Guilty to Felony Charge in Workers’ Comp Fraud Case
May 17 2005 // Sandra Canas, a resident of Daly City, California, pleaded guilty on May 11 to a felony charge of workers’ compensation insurance fraud. Canas was arrested on Nov. 10, 2004, by investigators from the California...
NAIC Reports California Workers’ Comp Finally Moved into the Black in 2003
May 17 2005 // Last month, the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) released its “Report on Profitability by Line by State” for calendar year 2003 (see CWCI Bulletin 05-07). The NAIC report provides...
ACIC Opposes Extending Low-Cost Auto Insurance Program
May 16 2005 // Without first conducting a thorough evaluation, it is premature to expand California’s low-cost auto insurance program from two counties to the entire state, according to the Association of California Insurance...
ACIC Elects Board Members
May 13 2005 // Members of the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) have elected Cinda Smith, senior counsel at GEICO, as chair at the organization’s recent annual meeting, according to ACIC President Sam...
Three Suspects Arraigned on Premium Fraud Charges
May 12 2005 // Three suspects were arraigned May 11 in Ventura County Superior Court in connection with a workers’ compensation premium fraud investigation conducted by the California Department of Insurance Fraud Division. Tomer...
Iglesias and Browne Join Burns & Wilcox Modesto
May 11 2005 // Burns & Wilcox appointed Lorraine Iglesias and Margaret Browne as senior underwriters for the company’s new service center in Modesto, California. Iglesias and Browne will be responsible for the production and...
Jury Reaches Partial Verdict in Executive Life
May 11 2005 // A federal judge on May 9 said a jury has voted on seven of eight verdict forms in a case against a group of French investors in connection with the illegal takeover of failed insurer Executive Life. U.S. District Court...
Former California Insurance Broker Goes to Jail
May 9 2005 // Former Vallejo insurance broker Jimmie Earl Jackson, who pled guilty to felony grand theft in Solano County Superior Court May 5, was sentenced to 180 days in County Jail and ordered to serve three years of formal...
Western Agencies Keep it All in the Family
May 9 2005 // Mom and pop” retail agencies have always been a vital component of the insurance world, and many of them still exist today. Sons, daughters, grandsons and granddaughters are able to continue family traditions as...
Abram Interstate Offers HO and Dwelling Product for Calif.
May 9 2005 // Abram Interstate Insurance Services, Inc. of Rocklin, Calif. recently announced a new preferred and standard Homeowners and Dwelling Fire market with Travelers Insurance Company. This new market is an admitted market that...
California Legislature Takes Action on Several Insurance-Related Bills
May 9 2005 // The California legislature took action on several insurance-related bills recently, including a controversial bill dealing with the issue of broker compensation. SB 938 (Dunn) would “require that an agent or broker...
Former Calif. Agent, Employee Arrested
May 9 2005 // A former California insurance agent and her employee were arrested for allegedly stealing and not remitting premiums to insurance companies of more than $3,000 from victims purchasing automobile insurance policies. Yvette...
SB 899 MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO WORK COMP SYSTEM:
May 9 2005 // April 19 marked the anniversary of the signing of SB 899, the third of three significant workers’ compensation reform measures enacted during the past few years by California’s elected officials. Together,...
On the Issue of Agent/Broker Compensation & Contingencies
May 9 2005 // The PIA Western Alliance has always supported vigorous insurance oversight and penalties should be imposed when agents or brokers break the law. As an association we regularly school our members to make sure their...
Author Pulls Bill Mandating California Insurer Community Investments
May 6 2005 // The author of a California bill that would mandate insurer community development investments, withdrew the bill from consideration for this legislative session. Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas, will not pursue AB 925...
Calif. Assembly Ins. Committee Approves Credit-based Insurance Scoring Bill
May 5 2005 // The American Insurance Association praised the California Assembly Insurance Committee May 5 for approving a measure implementing a modification of the national model law on the use of credit-based insurance scores...
