Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
PG&E Behind on Tree Work in California a Month from Wildfire Season
Apr 29 2019 // California is just one month away from the official start of wildfire season and bankrupt utility giant PG&E Corp. is running behind on inspections, repairs and tree-trimming that was ordered up to reduce the risk of...
Expert Discusses Potential Solutions to Ease the Pain of California’s Severe Wildfires
Apr 26 2019 // Powered by InsuranceJournal.tv James Woods has his sights set on finding ways to help California deal with repeated years of severe wildfire seasons, and the prospect of more seasons in which record losses from large...
PG&E Asks California for Higher Rates to Pay for Wildfire Safety, Profits
Apr 26 2019 // California utility Pacific Gas & Electric Corp. is asking state regulators for another increase in rates and profits, saying it’s needed for wildfire safety and to attract investment as the utility goes through...
California Lawmakers Advance Resilient Homes Initiative
Apr 25 2019 // A bill to enable the California Earthquake Authority to expand mitigation programs cleared its first hurdle this week when it passed the Senate Insurance Committee. The Resilient Homes Initiative, Senate Bill 254, was...
Bayer Seeks Dismissal of $78M Roundup Glyphosate Verdict or New Trial
Apr 25 2019 // Bayer AG on Wednesday asked a California appellate court to throw out a $78 million judgment it was ordered to pay to a school groundskeeper who claimed the company’s weed killers gave him cancer. In a filing in...
Newfront Insurance in California Names Kaneko Head of Carrier Relations
Apr 25 2019 // Newfront Insurance in California has named Garett Kaneko head of carrier relations. Kaneko will manage external market relations and partner strategy as well as overall business and growth strategy for Newfront. Kaneko has...
California Workers’ Compensation Rating Bureau Issues Report on Opioids
Apr 24 2019 // The use of opioids has significantly and continuously declined in the California workers’ compensation system since 2012, a trend that may be leading to a shift in the patterns of medical treatments for...
PG&E Can Pay Employees $350M to Meet Safety Goals After California Wildfires
Apr 24 2019 // PG&E Corp. can pay employees up to $350 million in bonuses this year to spur them to help meet the bankrupt California power provider’s safety goals to prevent wildfires, a judge said on Tuesday. PG&E’s...
California State Fund Launching Utilization Review Solution
Apr 23 2019 // California State Fund announced the rollout of a solution the worker’s comp carrier says will enable doctors to provide expedited care for injured workers. State Fund’s utilization review technology, called UR...
California Wildfires Helped Drive Homeowners Premium Volume in Surplus Lines
Apr 23 2019 // Wildfires have evidently been driving more Californians into the surplus lines market, pushing up homeowners surplus premium volume to more than $122 million in 2018, according to the Surplus Line Association of...
Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California Declares $3M Dividend for 2019
Apr 23 2019 // Nonprofits Insurance Alliance of California has declared a $3 million dividend in 2019. The group will issue the dividend to its qualifying member-insured 501(c)(3) nonprofits renewing their policies from June 1, 2019, to...
Southern California Agent Arrested for Bogus Policy Scam
Apr 23 2019 // Angel Estrada, 22, a formerly licensed insurance producer and owner of Angel Estrada Agency, swindled a national insurer out of more than $140,000 in commissions by writing bogus commercial insurance policies to earn large...
California Insurance Commissioner Rejects Petition to Require Fossil Fuel Underwriting Disclosure
Apr 23 2019 // California’s new insurance commissioner wasn’t getting along so well on Earth Day with groups of climate change and consumer activists. California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who put battling climate...
Techquake: The Biggest Threat to California’s Tech-Sector May Lie Directly Beneath its Feet
Apr 23 2019 // California’s technology sector has had a tough year with state and federal policymakers, to say nothing of the general public. Concerns about the size and scope of internet firms have led to a “techlash,”...
California Workers’ Comp Medical Dispute Resolution Letters Rose Last Year, Study Shows
Apr 22 2019 // After dipping for the first time ever in 2017, the number of workers’ comp medical dispute decision letters rose to an all-time high in 2018, according to a California Workers’ Compensation Institute study on...
California Lawsuit Claims Dispensary Sold Pesticide-Tainted Pot
Apr 22 2019 // An unlicensed marijuana dispensary sold cannabis sprayed with a dangerous pesticide, the city of Los Angeles said in a lawsuit that’s part of a wide-ranging crackdown on illegal pot sales. Marijuana sold at Kush Club...
S&P Will Issue ‘Environmental, Social and Governance’ Evaluations Including on Insurance Sector
Apr 18 2019 // If you’re among those who regard “environmental, social and governance” as just another in a long line of trendy buzz-phrases, then you may want to rethink. ESG standards, which companies use to highlight...
Driving in Georgia While Sitting in California; Remote Control Beats Autonomy
Apr 18 2019 // For four days in February, Ben Shukman showed up to his office at Phantom Auto in Mountain View, California, sat down in front of a bank of computer screens with a steering wheel in a darkened room, and began driving. As...
PCF Insurance Services Acquires Grosslight Insurance in California
Apr 17 2019 // PCF Insurance Services has completed the acquisition of Grosslight Insurance Inc., headquartered in the Westwood neighborhood of Los Angeles, Calif. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Grosslight Insurance, with offices...
California Regulators Skeptical of PG&E’s Promise to Improve Safety
Apr 17 2019 // California regulators expressed skepticism that Pacific Gas & Electric Corp.’s new leaders have enough professional experience to instill the deep corporate culture of safety they say the company has lacked. The...
