Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Brothers Nabbed in Staged Auto Accident Ring Involving 20 Others
Dec 5 2017 // A two-year investigation has netted 22 suspects in an auto fraud ring in California that cost insurers hundreds of thousands of dollars. Brothers Angel Topete, 36, and Joshua Topete, 34, both of San Martin, Calif., were...
WSS Names Azer Senior Broker in California
Dec 5 2017 // Western Security Surplus has named Sherif Azer a senior broker in its Los Angeles, Calif. office. Azer’s focus will be commercial lines, property and liability with the placement of excess and surplus brokerage, and...
MAPFRE USA to Exit 5, Focus on 11 States; Sell New York and Life Units in Reorganization
Dec 5 2017 // Insurer MAPFRE USA, which now writes in 19 states, is narrowing its focus by concentrating on 11 key states, exiting five states including selling its New York subsidiary, and selling its life insurance unit. MAPFRE USA...
California Seeking $4.4B in Federal Aid for Wildfires
Dec 4 2017 // California’s 53 U.S. House members are requesting $4.4 billion in federal aid to help the state recover from its deadliest wildfires ever. That’s down sharply from the $7.4 billion originally sought by Gov....
Founders Professional Opens New California Office, Taps DeCew and Steen
Dec 4 2017 // Founders Professional has hired Matt DeCew and Jeff Steen and is launching a new San Diego, Calif. office. This is the firm’s fifth location. DeCew and Steen will work with retail insurance agencies throughout the...
California Lawmakers May Limit Liability of Autonomous Carmakers
Dec 4 2017 // California regulators are embracing a General Motors recommendation that would help makers of self-driving cars avoid paying for accidents and other trouble, raising concerns that the proposal will put an unfair burden on...
Federal Investigators Say Fatigue, Poor Safety Cause of Deadly California Bus Crash
Dec 4 2017 // Federal safety investigators say a sleep-deprived driver and a bus company with a poor safety record were causes of an August 2016 crash in California’s Central Valley that killed four passengers and injured 20...
People
Dec 4 2017 // Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Brendan Williams its Southern California practice leader. Williams will be assuming leadership of the Southern California region in early 2018 upon the retirement of Ron Packouz, founder...
Father and Son in California Sentenced in $400K Workers’ Comp Scheme
Dec 4 2017 // Jaime Rosario Del Real, 61, and son Israel Del Real, 37, have both pleaded guilty to four felony counts for their role in a $400,000 insurance fraud scheme denying workers’ compensation insurance and medical care for...
California Fires Will Add to 2017 Insurer Catastrophe Losses, Fitch Says
Dec 4 2017 // No U.S. reinsurance companies in Fitch Rating’s rated universe are expected to be downgraded as a result of losses from the California wildfires alone, but for a number of companies the impact of wildfire losses adds...
Trump Protester Struck by Car in California Sues City, Driver and University
Dec 1 2017 // A woman who was hit by a car while protesting against President Donald Trump on a San Diego freeway is suing the driver, the city, the state and a nearby university. The San Diego Union-Tribune reported 19-year-old Maria...
Fallout for PG&E from California Wildfire Could Have Been Limited by Vote
Dec 1 2017 // California regulators rejected a request by a San Diego utility to bill customers for a decade-old wildfire, even as they made clear their decision shouldn’t necessarily be seen as a precedent for last month’s...
Chubb Expects $320 Million in Q4 Catastrophe Losses Including California Wildfires
Nov 30 2017 // Chubb Limited reported a preliminary loss estimate for the fourth quarter from natural catastrophes, including the California wildfires, of approximately $320 million pre-tax, or $249 million after tax. Chubb said its...
Lawyer Pleads Guilty to Trying to Sell Sealed Whistleblower Lawsuits
Nov 30 2017 // A former partner at a major law firm in Washington pleaded guilty on Wednesday to charges that he tried to sell copies of sealed whistleblower lawsuits against corporations that he obtained while working at the U.S....
Insurance Industry Increases Spending With California Diverse Suppliers By $670M
Nov 28 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones announced at the 6th Annual Insurance Diversity Summit this week that California diverse businesses supplied $1.6 billion in goods and services to insurance companies last...
Woodruff-Sawyer Names Williams Southern California Practice Leader
Nov 27 2017 // Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Brendan Williams its Southern California practice leader. Williams will be assuming leadership of the Southern California region in early 2018 upon the retirement of Ron Packouz, founder...
California Policyholders Have 24 Months to Collect Wildfire Insurance Money
Nov 22 2017 // California’s insurance commissioner says homeowners who lost their homes in last month’s wildfires in Northern California have up to 24 months to collect insurance payments. Dave Jones said this week some...
California Workers’ Comp Department Suspends 9 Medical Providers for Fraud
Nov 22 2017 // The Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended nine more medical providers from participating in California’s workers’ compensation system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this year...
California-based Insurance Law Firm Sedgwick Closing Offices
Nov 21 2017 // Sedgwick LLP, a San Francisco, Calif.-based law firm that represented numerous insurance clients, is closing. The news of the closure came in the form of a letter sent out to employees this week making it known that...
California Lawmakers May Limit Liability of Autonomous Carmakers
Nov 21 2017 // California regulators are embracing a General Motors recommendation that would help makers of self-driving cars avoid paying for accidents and other trouble, raising concerns that the proposal will put an unfair burden on...
