Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. High Court Bans Employee Noncompete Pacts
Aug 14 2008 // The California Supreme Court has upheld the state’s strict ban on most employee noncompetition agreements, ruling that companies cannot in any way limit a former employee’s ability to ply his trade. The high...
California Proposes 16% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase
Aug 14 2008 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California indicated it plans to submit a filing to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) recommending a 16 percent increase in pure premium rates effective...
California Broker Stabbed by ’40-Year-Old Virgin’ Actor
Aug 14 2008 // An actor who appeared in “The 40-Year-Old Virgin” has been charged with attempted murder after his girlfriend was stabbed more than 20 times, authorities said. Shelley Malil, 43, remained in custody on $2...
Widow Awarded $8.5M in California Malpractice Case
Aug 12 2008 // A jury has awarded $8.5 million to the widow of a Modesto, Calif., man who died on the day a surgeon was going to discharge him from the hospital. Because of medical malpractice limits, 38-year-old Holly Stinnett likely...
Topa Insurance Offers Garage Package in California
Aug 12 2008 // Topa Insurance Co. has a new garage package for auto service and repair shops in California. The package includes garage liability, garage keepers legal liability and property targeting a variety of classes including...
Aon Risk Services Adds Rover to Southern California Brokerage
Aug 11 2008 // Aon Risk Services, the retail brokerage and risk management unit of Aon Corp., announced Stuart Rover has joined the firm’s Los Angeles office as senior account executive. In this role, Rover is responsible for...
California Senate Committee Passes Pay-As-You-Drive Legislation
Aug 8 2008 // Legislation that would allow insurers to more accurately base auto insurance premiums exactly on how many miles a motorist drives passed the California Senate Appropriations Committee. Proposition 103 requires insurers to...
Court: California Homeowners Not Liable for Tree Trimmer’s Death
Aug 8 2008 // A homeowner is not vicariously criminally liable for the misdemeanor acts of a tree trimmer, the California Supreme Court decided. According to Maria Dolores Ramirez V. Thomas Nelson, a worker for an unlicensed contractor...
California Appeals Court: Retailers Must Provide Disabled Access
Aug 6 2008 // The Court of Appeal of California has ruled that a retailer must remove architectural barriers that prohibit disabled individuals from accessing merchandise, or must adopt alternative methods for making its merchandise...
Mercury General Increases Q2 Net Income 1.8%, Names Marcon to Board
Aug 5 2008 // Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corp. announced its second quarter results for 2008. Net income was $70.7 million, an increase of 1.8 percent from the $69.5 million earned in the same quarter in 2007. However, net...
Mid-Year 2008: Securities Lawsuit Filings Remain Up
Aug 4 2008 // Subprime and Credit Crisis Filings Show No Sign of Abating Is litigation stemming from the subprime- and credit crisis-related activity increasing directors’ and officers’ insurance premiums? Despite the steady...
Predicting Ground Motion: The Next Generation
Aug 4 2008 // New Seismic Models Make Ground Motion Predictions More Accurate The accuracy of ground motion prediction from shallow events in the active tectonic regions in the Western United States, such as California, has improved,...
People
Aug 4 2008 // Aon Re Global named Jan-Oliver Thofern CEO and chairman of its German subsidiary, Aon Ruck. Thofern was previously a member of the company’s executive committee. He succeeds Holger Gaserow, who plans to retire at the...
Wildfires Rekindle Need for Private Fire Protection Efforts
Aug 4 2008 // As wildfires seemingly increase in frequency and severity of insured losses year after year, insurers are devising fire prevention methods to protect their client’s properties — including hiring private...
Broker Liability
Aug 4 2008 // Is There a Duty to Advise About Adequacy of Coverage? Author’s note: This month’s column will examine the liability of a broker for an alleged failure to advise the insured about the adequacy of insurance...
Fireman’s Fund Offers First Green Homeowners Policy in California
Aug 3 2008 // Calfornia’s Department of Insurance has approved the first green homeowners insurance policy in California, offered by Fireman’s Fund Insurance Co. “I am very pleased today to announce that Californians...
Moderate California Quake a Drill for ‘Big One’
Aug 1 2008 // Despite shaking a large swath of Southern California, a magnitude-5.4 earthquake was not the “Big One” that scientists have long feared. Still, it rattled nerves, causing people to vow to step up their...
Strict Building Codes Credited after California Quake
Aug 1 2008 // Although this new suburb of 80,000 people was just a few miles from the epicenter of a 5.4-magnitude earthquake, the city withstood the shaking with almost no damage at all. If a quake had to hit somewhere in densely...
State’s Building Code Helps Minimize Losses from California Earthquake
Jul 30 2008 // The moderate earthquake that struck Los Angeles late Tuesday (July 29) morning at 11:42am PDT has not caused major damage or serious injury, according to early eyewitness reports and the Los Angeles Fire Department. Based...
Calif. Earthquake Authority Prepared to Handle Claims; Expects Minor Damage
Jul 30 2008 // Only 12 percent of California homeowners currently own earthquake insurance policies, potentially leaving millions of Californians financially unprotected in the event of a catastrophic quake. Of the 12 percent of...
