Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Authorities Give Comp Fraud a Clean Sweep
Mar 7 2005 // In a joint effort, investigators from the Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (DLSE), overseen by the California Department of Industrial Relations (DIR), and the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office...
Heads Up! Employees at Large
Mar 7 2005 // Wal-Mart, Morgan Stanley, Boeing, Texaco, State Farm and Farmers have all been the targets of recent employment practices lawsuits. Wal-Mart was hit with sexual harassment charges. Farmers was sued for wrongful...
WELLPOINT AND CALIF. COMMISSIONER LAUNCH COMMUNITY GRANT PROGRAM:
Mar 7 2005 // WellPoint Inc. joined California Department of Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi in announcing the launch of a $35 million Community Clinics Grant Program. The program and its funding are a direct result of the merger...
CAAA SAYS WORKERS’ COMP PROFITS UP 25%-36%:
Mar 7 2005 // Fourth quarter and 2004 annual earnings statements from leading California workers’ comp insurance carriers are coming in, and profits are reportedly up by 25 to 36 percent over 2003–and 2003 was already the...
CA DWC UPDATES PROGRAM FOR INJURED WORKERS:
Mar 7 2005 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has reportedly reinvigorated a state program that provides information and assistance to injured workers through monthly workshops at local DWC offices. “In the...
Calif. Man Collects Benefits on False Claim
Mar 7 2005 // On Dec. 8, 2004, Sammy Barela Rios, of Madera, was arrested by investigators from the CDI Fraud Division and booked into the Madera county jail on four felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud and one felony...
Contingency Commissions and the Future of California Agents & Brokers
Mar 7 2005 // How the Spitzer-led investigation against broker fees inspired solutions to California’s “problems” Over the past several months, there have been numerous explanations, press releases and position papers...
ChoicePoint: ‘Insurance Industry Databases Were Not Compromised’
Mar 7 2005 // ChoicePoint’s Clue Auto, Clue Property and Current Carrier insurance industry databases were not in any way involved or compromised by the fraud ring that obtained data from other ChoicePoint databases of public...
New Calif. Comp Carrier Receives $50M in Capitalization
Mar 3 2005 // Applied Underwriters announced that it has provided $50MM in capital to its wholly-owned subsidiary, the California Insurance Company (CIC). Applied Underwriters acquired CIC in 2003 from General Electric’s Coregis...
State Fund Files 2004 Financial Statement with CDI
Mar 2 2005 // In an annual statement filed Wednesday with the California Department of Insurance, State Compensation Insurance Fund documented that its policyholder surplus — assets minus claims reserves and other liabilities...
Calif. Commissioner Vows to Continue Fight Against ‘Use it and Lose it’ Abuses in Homeowner Industry
Mar 2 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi issued the following statement in response to the recent Court of Appeal’s ruling on the state’s authority to regulate homeowners’ insurance: “The...
Calif. Warrant Sweep Nets Eight Suspects; Six Wanted for Insurance Fraud
Feb 28 2005 // Starting last Thursday, investigators from the California Department of Insurance’s Fraud Division (CDI) conducted joint operations in the Central Valley to execute outstanding arrest warrants. This sweep netted...
WellPoint and California Commissioner Launch $35 Million Community Clinics Grant Program
Feb 24 2005 // WellPoint Inc. joined California Department of Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi in announcing the launch of a $35 million Community Clinics Grant Program. The program and its funding are a direct result of the merger...
Calif. Small Business Owners Optimistic About Growth, UBOC Survey Says
Feb 23 2005 // Almost 71 percent of California small business owners polled are expecting 2005 to be an overall better year than 2004, according to the fifth annual statewide survey released today by Union Bank of California, N.A. The...
Guaranty Insurance Acquires Calif.-based Walter Mortensen Insurance
Feb 22 2005 // Guaranty Insurance Services Inc., the second-largest insurance agency in Texas, announced that it has acquired Walter Mortensen Insurance of Bakersfield, California. This move doubles the agency’s size in...
Calif. Senator Requests Audit into $600 Million Executive Life Settlement
Feb 22 2005 // The chairwoman of a state Senate oversight committee has requested an audit of a $600 million settlement between the state insurance department and defendants accused of fraudulently acquiring the assets of the now-defunct...
Hall Elected Chairman of Calif. SLA
Feb 21 2005 // The members of the Surplus Line Association of California unanimously elected Rupert Hall as their chairman during their recent SLA Annual meeting. Hall is the President and CEO of M.J. Hall & Company Inc., a surplus...
People & Places
Feb 21 2005 // Jeannie Davila Encino, Calif.-based NAS Insurance Services has appointed Jeannie Davila as assistant vice president in charge of its new E&S Property Insurance facility. Davila brings 30 years of insurance experience...
CDI Fines Agents over Work Comp Policies
Feb 21 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has imposed discipline upon two agents and the companies they work for over their marketing of an illegal tribal-based insurance product. The actions taken by the...
Calif. Man Arrested on Workers' Comp, Embezzlement Charges
Feb 21 2005 // On Jan. 31, Gregg Leo Curwick, of Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., surrendered himself in Bakersfield to investigators from the CDI’s Fraud Division and the Kern County District Attorney’s Office. Curwick was taken...
