Latest California Headlines

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

CWCI to Hold Seminar on Permanent Disability Rating

Aug 5 2004 // The California Workers’ Compensation Institute will present a seminar titled “Impairment Rating in California Workers’ Compensation: AMA Guides 101”, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Tuesday, October 5 at...

Anthem Files Lawsuit Against Calif. Commissioner

Aug 4 2004 // Anthem Inc. filed a lawsuit against the California Insurance Commissioner in the Superior Court of the State of California for the County of Los Angeles. The suit seeks to set aside the Commissioner’s decision to...

Defense Counsel Elect Lawler as President

Aug 3 2004 // Jean M. Lawler, a senior partner at Murchison & Cumming, LLP, of California, has been inaugurated as president of the Federation of Defense & Corporate Counsel (FDCC), the first woman to hold this...

Three Suspects Arrested for Alleged Auto, Work Comp Insurance Fraud

Aug 3 2004 // Investigators arrested three people August 3 on numerous felony charges after a 3-year California Department of Insurance investigation into a chiropractic office, which uncovered numerous alleged auto insurance and...

Dunlap Joins Collier Shannon Scott as Gov’t Relations Advisor

Jul 30 2004 // Washington, D.C.-based law firm Collier Shannon Scott announced that John Dunlap joined the firm as a Government Relations Advisor. Based in Sacramento, Dunlap will help clients navigate California’s political and...

Calif. WCIRB Makes 2005 Regulatory Filing

Jul 29 2004 // On July 28, 2004, the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau (WCIRB) submitted its annual regulatory filing to the California insurance commissioner. In its filing, the WCIRB proposed advisory premium rates...

Eisenhart, Vogelman Join Calif.-based Agency Management Resource Group

Jul 29 2004 // Cheryl L. Koch, owner of Agency Management Resource Group of Lincoln, Calif., a provider of consulting and training services to independent agents and companies, announced that Mary M. Eisenhart has joined the firm as...

IHI Insurance Services, Cal State Fullerton Develop Claims Examiner Education Program

Jul 27 2004 // In an effort to curb an impending crisis, the University Extended Education department at Cal State Fullerton announced that it has started accepting registrations for the Fall 2004 semester for the State University...

Wash., Calif. Agencies Newest Members to ISU Network

Jul 21 2004 // ISU International President, T.J. Ryan III, announced the addition of the newest members to ISU’s national network of agencies effective July 1: ISU Insurance Services—Connor & Kelly of Spokane, Wash.; and ISU...

California Legislative Committee Takes Action on Homeowners Bills

Jul 19 2004 // The Assembly Insurance Committee took action on several pending homeowners insurance bills in late June. According to the Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC), consumers will benefit from the recent...

California Annuities Training – Are You Ready for the 12/31/04 Deadline’

Jul 19 2004 // Last summer, when we weren’t looking, the California Legislature passed Senate Bill 620 (SB 620) and enacted new insurance producer training statutes at section 1749.8 of the Insurance Code. This new California law...

People and Places

Jul 19 2004 // Richard Kingsley Richard Kingsley, owner of Stayton, Ore.-based Cammack-Kingsley Insurance Inc., has been elected president of the Professional Insurance Agents of Oregon/Idaho. He served as president-elect of the...

Construction Defects Burning a Hole through the Residential Contractors Market

Jul 19 2004 // Whether real or imagined, the threat of construction defects litigation has burned through the residential contractors liability insurance market like a California wildfire. Over the past couple of years, contractors and...

CALIF. GOV. APPOINTS THREE MEMBERS TO STATE FUND BOARD:

Jul 19 2004 // Calif. Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger announced the appointments of Jeanne Cain, Kent Dagg and Vincent Mudd to the State Compensation Insurance Fund Board. Cain was also named chairwoman by the governor....

Wildfire Victims Question Industry’s Cost Calculator

Jul 19 2004 // Don Robinson says his Residence Mutual insurance policy pegged the cost of replacing his San Diego home at $233,000. After Southern California’s wildfires destroyed the 40-year-old biologist’s four bedroom...

ACIC DISAPPOINTED IN CALIF. SUPREME COURT ACTION:

Jul 19 2004 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) expressed disappointment in the decision by the California Supreme Court not to review a key case related to insurance rate regulation in the state. The Court...

ACIC Supports Mediation Bill For Fire Victims

Jul 15 2004 // The Association of California Insurance Companies (ACIC) has announced its support of mediation legislation that would be available to help victims of last years’ Southern California wildfires. “This is a...

California Brothers and Employee Arrested in Alleged Felony Fraud Case

Jul 14 2004 // Brothers Sam Saeid Afghani, of Agoura Hills, Calif., and Siamac A. Afghani, of Calabasas, Calif., as well as employee Renee Laws, of Encino, Calif., were to be arraigned July14 for their suspected roles in a fraud case at...

S&P: Mercury Casualty Co., Affiliates Ratings Affirmed

Jul 13 2004 // Standard & Poor’s has affirmed its ‘AA’ counterparty credit and financial strength ratings on Mercury Casualty Co. and Mercury Insurance Co. as well as its ‘AA’ financial strength rating...

Study: MICRA Cuts Malpractice Awards by 30%

Jul 13 2004 // A landmark California law that caps non-economic awards in medical malpractice lawsuits has cut defendants’ payments by 30 percent to plaintiffs who win such lawsuits at trials, according to a RAND Corporation study...