Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Climate Change Means Californians Need Flood Insurance Now, Too
Sep 5 2023 // Californians know wildfires and earthquakes; hurricanes, not so much. So when Tropical Storm Hilary inundated Southern California in normally bone-dry August, it showed just how exposed homeowners are to a growing...
Business Moves
Sep 4 2023 // National Acturis Group, Broker Buddha The software-as-a-service firm Acturis Group has entered the U.S. market with the acquisition of Broker Buddha. Broker Buddha, based in New York City, provides insurance brokers and...
People & Places
Sep 4 2023 // National Tricia Loney DUAL North America, headquartered in San Diego, California appointed Peter Gosselink as executive vice president of its fine art program. Dual also has named Tricia Loney as head of specialty...
Claims Pros Warned About Confirmation Bias and Inflated Line Items
Sep 4 2023 // The charred remains of a dog found among the ruins of a house that was destroyed in a sudden fire added an air of legitimacy to the insurance claim. For sure, homeowners sometimes resort to arson, but who would be so...
Personal Lines in Surplus Lines
Sep 4 2023 // The continuing trend of more personal lines business making its way into the E&S market is surprising, says John Jennings, CEO and one of the founding members of Jencap Group. “I think that is probably the...
Hard Market Pressure: Surplus Lines Lifting Heavy Load in Turbulent Times
Sep 4 2023 // As the longest hard market in memory refuses to fade, standard property/casualty carriers are not only continuing to raise prices but also reimagining their books by shedding risks they no longer want. It’s affecting...
California Voting on Increasing Storage At Site of Massive Methane Leak Despite Risks
Sep 1 2023 // California officials are expected to vote on a proposal to increase storage capacity at the site of the nation’s largest known methane leak that sickened thousands of families and forced them from their Los Angeles...
Appeals Court Dismisses 14 COVID Business Insurance Claims Against Travelers
Aug 31 2023 // The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals has dismissed lawsuits by 14 businesses seeking insurance coverage from Travelers Insurance for business losses stemming from COVID-19 and the related government shutdown orders. The...
LP Insurance Services Acquires Wasserman & Associates in California
Aug 30 2023 // LP Insurance Services LLC acquired Wasserman & Associates in Northern California. Wasserman & Associates joins the LP Insurance Services Gold River/Sacramento office. Wasserman & Associates has been serving the...
California Labor Commissioner Cites Farm Labor Contractor and Growers $1.9M
Aug 29 2023 // The California Labor Commissioner’s Office cited farm labor contractor M.G. Luna, Inc. of Parlier and growers Madera Persimmon Growers Inc. of Madera and Willems Farms Inc. of Kingsburg $1,926,531, for wage theft...
Jury in California Awards $3.75M to Protester Hit by Hard-Foam Projectiles
Aug 29 2023 // A jury awarded $3.75 million in damages this week to a protester shot twice with hard-foam projectiles fired by Los Angeles police during demonstrations in 2020. Jurors ruled that the LA Police Department was negligent...
2023 to Test Recent Growth in Private Flood Insurance Market
Aug 29 2023 // The private flood insurance market has been growing but 2023 may provide a real test following Tropical Storm Hilary in California as well as future storms that may come during the remainder of the Atlantic hurricane...
KCC Estimates Storm Hilary Caused Nearly $600M in Insured Losses
Aug 28 2023 // Catastrophe modeler Karen Clark & Co. said privately insured losses in the U.S. from Hurricane Hilary will be near $600 million. Once a Category 4 storm, Hurricane Hilary weakened to a tropical storm before it made...
Uber Raises Minimum Age for Most California Drivers to 25 over Insurance Costs
Aug 25 2023 // Uber raised the minimum age requirement for most of its new drivers in California to 25 on Thursday under rules the company said are necessary because of the rising costs of commercial auto insurance in the state. The new...
Former University of Southern California Star Reggie Bush Plans Defamation Suit Against NCAA
Aug 24 2023 // Former Southern California running back Reggie Bush plans to file a defamation lawsuit against the NCAA over a statement made by college sports’ governing body about the reasoning for its decision not to restore the...
Signers National Acquires Eclipse Risk Insurance Services in California
Aug 24 2023 // Signers National acquired nonprofit insurance company Eclipse Risk Insurance Services in California. Signers National also acquired the nonprofit insurance firm Whittaker Agency in Illinois. The two new businesses will be...
Maui Fire Victims Pursue Legal Tactic That Led to $13.5B California Settlement
Aug 23 2023 // Hawaii property owners are seizing on a legal shortcut used by fire victims in California to secure compensation from Hawaiian Electric Industries Inc. for damages following the fires that ravaged Maui. The strategy, which...
Tile, Amazon Face Lawsuit From Stalking Victims Over Tracking Device Product
Aug 23 2023 // A tracking device called Tile may be effective in preventing its user from losing keys, a dog, or a purse, but it is also a tool used by stalkers, according to two women who have filed a proposed class-action lawsuit...
San Francisco Archdiocese Declares Bankruptcy Amid Hundreds of Sex Abuse Lawsuits
Aug 23 2023 // San Francisco’s Roman Catholic archdiocese filed for bankruptcy this week, saying the filing is necessary to manage more than 500 lawsuits alleging child sexual abuse by church officials. The Chapter 11 protection...
Declarations
Aug 21 2023 // Seltzer Water High “Maybe having a 10-milligram THC-infused seltzer water is something that’s more up your alley. … In my opinion, it’s more social.” — Alex Buschmann, cannabis practice...