Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Early Data Shows Insured Losses from California Wildfires Already at $1B and Growing
Oct 19 2017 // Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones today released preliminary data provided by eight California insurers processing claims for tens of thousands of policyholders that shows $1.045 billion in losses to commercial and...
ICW Group in California Names Guy Carpenter’s Novak Chief Operating and Strategic Execution Officer
Oct 19 2017 // San Diego, Calif.-based ICW Group Insurance Cos. has named John Novak chief operating and strategic execution officer. Novak will succeed David Hoppen, who accepted the position of president of VerTerra Insurance Co. (a...
California Workers’ Comp Institute Recaps Year in Legislation
Oct 19 2017 // The California Workers’ Compensation Institute this week released a report on a list of bills that will affect the workers’ comp system. The bills were recently signed into law at the end of the Legislative...
Fire at Large California Oil Refinery Doused
Oct 19 2017 // A fire that erupted at the West Coast’s largest oil refinery threatened storage tanks and sent huge flames into the sky and black smoke across neighborhoods before crews quickly smothered it. Dozens of firefighters...
California’s Chief Utility Regulator Says We May Never Know If PG&E Caused Fires
Oct 19 2017 // California’s chief utility regulator said the state may never determine whether PG&E Corp.’s electrical equipment played a role in igniting the deadly blazes near San Francisco earlier this month. The...
Woodruff-Sawyer in California Names Berry Leader of Private Equity and Venture Capital Group
Oct 19 2017 // Woodruff-Sawyer & Co. has named Dan Berry leader of the firm’s private equity and venture capital group. Berry is a senior vice president and partner in Woodruff-Sawyer. He joined the firm in 2011 and has...
Alliant in California Names Morana Senior Vice President in Pharmacy Practice
Oct 18 2017 // Newport Beach, Calif.-based Alliant Insurance Services has named Sal Moranato a senior vice president and pharmacy practice lead in its pharmacy consulting practice. Morana has nearly 25 years of pharmacy practice and...
Collaborative Project Saved Homes in Oregon from Fires. Can It Be Duplicated?
Oct 17 2017 // Lightning started a forest fire one August afternoon near Sisters, an Oregon tourist town, and it was spreading fast. Residents in outlying areas evacuated as flames marched toward their homes. Just a few months earlier,...
All Wildfire Damage to California Wineries May Not be Covered by Insurance
Oct 17 2017 // Wineries damaged by wildfires tearing through Northern California are starting insurance claims, and at least some of the smaller vintners are likely to find limits in their policies mean payouts fall short of rebuilding...
Gov. Brown Signs Bill that Could Energize Insurance Markets
Oct 16 2017 // Given the far-reaching nature of some of the bills that Gov. Jerry Brown signed into law in recent weeks, it’s no surprise that a relatively minor tweak to the insurance code didn’t muscle its way onto the...
California Wildfires Threaten Significant Losses for P/C Insurers, Moody’s Says
Oct 16 2017 // Moody’s released a report on Monday assessing the impact of the wildfires in California on property/casualty insurers. “Based on history and the number of structures damaged, insured losses will run into the...
PG&E’s Possible Liability in California Wildfires Targeted by Investigators
Oct 16 2017 // PG&E Corp. at the end of last week capped its worst week in nine years on speculation that downed power lines may have played a role in deadly wildfires raging across California. And the rout is far from over. After...
California Workers’ Comp Division Suspends 3 Medical Providers for Fraud
Oct 16 2017 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation has suspended three more medical providers from participating in the state’s workers’ comp system, bringing the total number of providers suspended this...
Worldwide Facilities in California Names Kelly COO
Oct 16 2017 // Los Angeles, Calif.-based Worldwide Facilities has named Cameron Kelly its chief operating officer. Kelly will be responsible for managing the company’s production offices, compliance, and acquisition integration. He...
Worker Safety, Regulation Overload Among Highlights of Drone Expo in California
Oct 16 2017 // Drones may already be impacting the world of workers’ compensation. Fewer workers on communications towers are falling to their deaths, according to Todd Schlekeway, executive director of the National Association of...
People – West
Oct 16 2017 // Dietz, Gilmor & Chazen has promoted Robert E. Robinson, Richard A. Lynn and Robert Lance to partners in the firm in California. All three newly promoted partners were previously with Dietz, Gilmor & Associates,...
California Governor Jerry Brown Signs Surplus Lines Association Backed Bill
Oct 16 2017 // Assembly Bill 1641, legislation offered and lobbied by the Surplus Line Association of California that is designed to give the California Department of Insurance more flexibility in deciding which coverages to add to the...
California Commissioner Asks Insurers to Expedite Claims to Aid Wildfire Victims
Oct 15 2017 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones over the weekend issued a notice to insurers asking them to agree to expedited claims handling procedures for wildfire damage claims to help fire victims more quickly. Several...
Cyber Was Focus of California Symposium for Small and Mid-Sized Businesses
Oct 13 2017 // There are more than 4,000 cyber-attacks each year aimed at small- to mid-sized businesses, many of which are exposed because they haven’t given cyber security a high enough priority, according to Stephanie...
Cars Without a Human Behind the Wheel Coming to California Soon
Oct 13 2017 // California has taken another step toward permitting testing of self-driving vehicles without a human driver, continuing a shift away from previous policies that companies criticized as being overly restrictive. The...
