Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Leavitt Group Buys BB&H Benefit Designs in California
Jan 17 2017 // Santa Barbara, Calif.-based BB&H Benefit Designs has been purchased by Leavitt Group. Deborah Babineau and Marice McKeegan are the co-owners of the agency. The agency staff, location and contact information remain the...
California Department of Insurance Issues Notice of Noncompliance to State Farm
Jan 17 2017 // The California Department of Insurance has issued a noncompliance notice to State Farm General Insurance Co. for refusing to reduce policyholders’ rates as mandated by an order from Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones...
California Workers’ Comp Division Names Whitcomb to Ethics Committee
Jan 13 2017 // Deborah A. Whitcomb, a workers’ compensation administrative law judge in Stockton, Calif., has been appointed to serve on the Workers’ Compensation Ethics Advisory Committee. Whitcomb was appointed by George...
Tornado That Touched Down in California Not So Rare
Jan 13 2017 // The latest storm to wallop Northern California whipped up a small tornado that downed trees and fences near Sacramento. Here’s what you need to know about twisters in California, which occur regularly but in limited...
California Woman Slaps Chipotle With $2.2B Suit over Privacy Violation
Jan 13 2017 // A California woman has filed a lawsuit against Chipotle alleging the Denver-based company used a photo of her without her consent for commercial gain. The Denver Post reported that Sacramento resident Leah Caldwell is...
California Wholesalers Conference Tackled Everything from Marijuana to Trump
Jan 12 2017 // How legalized marijuana and President-elect Donald Trump will affect the insurance industry, a possible merger of the nation’s two major excess and surplus lines organizations, renewing the National Flood Insurance...
California Governor Pitches $122.5B Budget, Issues Deficit Warning
Jan 11 2017 // California Gov. Jerry Brown proposed a $122.5 billion state spending plan this week and warned of a looming $1.6 billion budget deficit because of slow growth in tax revenues. Brown announced his proposed budget as the...
Drought-Weakened Trees Are Falling Hazards in Rainy California
Jan 11 2017 // Drenching winter rains combined with the punishing effects of six years of drought are causing trees to topple across California, in some cases with deadly results. At least two people have been killed in the past...
California College Pays Hacker Ransom for Compromised Student Data
Jan 10 2017 // A California community college has paid a $28,000 ransom after a hacker took student data hostage. The Los Angeles Daily News reported that 1,800 Los Angeles Valley College teachers and staff were locked out of their...
Hundreds of Evacuations in California, Nevada from Flooding
Jan 10 2017 // Hundreds fled homes as a massive winter storm packing heavy rain, damaging winds and lightning caused mudslides and widespread flooding in Northern California and Nevada. The Russian River in California’s Sonoma...
California Report Shows Lower Bay Area Workers’ Comp Claims Costs
Jan 9 2017 // A report out today shows that San Francisco Bay Area residents account for 17.5 percent of California job injury claims but only 15. percent of claim costs. The report by the California Workers’ Compensation...
How to Help Insureds Manage Customer Privacy Risk
Jan 9 2017 // Insurance carriers and agents have come to learn that increased data can lead to greater risk for insureds, and they are increasingly advising businesses to disclose data collection practices while seeking to gain...
Arch Insurance Group Names Parsons Vice President in California
Jan 9 2017 // Arch Insurance Group Inc. has named Matthew Parsons the regional vice president for its U.S. Construction division for the Western region. Parsons will be based in the company’s San Francisco, Calif. office and will...
Midwest Regulation Report Card: States’ Grades Range from A to D
Jan 9 2017 // Grades assigned to the insurance regulatory systems in the Midwest states of Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, South Dakota and Wisconsin range from A to D in a...
South Central Regulation Report Card: Texas’ Grade Rises, Arkansas’ Drops
Jan 9 2017 // No South Central state had the best score and none had the worst in a report recently released by a conservative-leaning research organization that annually assesses the effectiveness states’ insurance regulatory...
California DIR Releases Overview of New Laws
Jan 9 2017 // The California Department of Industrial Relations released its 2016 Legislative Digest, which summarizes new laws that impact workers and employers. Most of the chaptered bills took effect on Jan. 1. Highlights of those...
Central California City Wins $22M from Shell Oil in Toxic Drinking Water Case
Jan 9 2017 // The central California city of Clovis in late December won a $22 million civil case against Shell Oil over the cleanup of a toxic chemical found in drinking-water wells, officials said. The chemical 1,2,3-trichloropropane,...
California Labor Commissioner Nails Taxi Company for Failure to Carry Comp
Jan 9 2017 // Santa Rosa, Calif., taxi company A-C Transportation Services Inc. has agreed to settle a $522,300 citation for refusing to provide its 30 drivers with workers’ compensation insurance coverage and for misclassifying...
West Regulation Report Card: California Most Politicized State
Jan 9 2017 // A report gives California’s insurance regulatory environment low marks for auto body repair rules, the insurance commissioner’s call for insurers to divest from coal, its prior approval law and being the...
Tesla Owner in California Sues Tesla over Sudden Acceleration
Jan 9 2017 // Tesla Motors Inc. has been sued by a Model X owner in California who said his electric SUV suddenly accelerated while being parked, causing it to crash through the garage into the owner’s living room, injuring the...
