Latest California Headlines

All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.

California Earthquake Authority To Use New Science in Determining Rates

Apr 16 2008 // The California Earthquake Authority (CEA) announced today it will begin using a newly released, uniform scientific method in determining insurance rates and the most accurate prices for consumers. Partially funded by the...

Zurich Names Patton, Constantinou to Climate Initiative Team

Apr 14 2008 // Zurich Financial Services Group announced the appointment of Lindene Patton and Elpida Constantinou to key positions within its Climate Office, both will report to Michael Kerner, Global Chief Underwriting Officer and Head...

California Workers’ Compensation Insurer in the Midst of Change

Apr 11 2008 // California State Compensation Insurance Fund has been facing many changes recently, but it has no intent to be the dominant player in the state workers’ compensation insurance market, according to Janet Frank,...

FEMA Says California’s Sprinter Light Rail Dirt Changed Flood Plain

Apr 11 2008 // Some 100,000 cubic yards of dirt dumped on the edge of California’s Loma Alta Creek to elevate Sprinter light rail tracks could be costly for nearby residents and business owners. Federal Emergency Management Agency...

Study: California Workers’ Comp Claims Cost Decreasing

Apr 8 2008 // California’s Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau has released a study that notes that following workers’ comp reform, statewide average ratios of loss adjustment expense (LAE) to loss per claim...

People

Apr 7 2008 // The Governing Board of the California Earthquake Authority has hired Glenn A. Pomeroy as CEO. Pomeroy has extensive experience in public service positions, including former commissioner of insurance of North Dakota. In...

Insurers Urge California Policyholders to Oppose Vehicle Repair Bill

Apr 7 2008 // Three insurance associations are urging Californians to contact their legislators to oppose a bill that they say would influence where consumers get their vehicles repaired following an accident. The bill, SB 1167 by Sen....

California Assembly Considering Insurance Agent-Broker Bill

Apr 7 2008 // A bill that would help to clarify when an insurance professional is acting in the capacity of a broker versus an agent in California is scheduled come before the state Assembly Insurance Committee no later than April 16....

Cheldin Re-Elected Chair of California Insurance Association

Apr 4 2008 // Cary Cheldin, president of Crusader Insurance Co. in Woodland Hills, Calif., was re-elected to a traditional second, one-year term as chairman of the Association of California Insurance Companies’ (ACIC) Board of...

Nearly Dozen Arrested for $2 Million California Insurance Fraud Scam

Apr 4 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner announced the arrests of nearly one dozen alleged Bay Area fraud perpetrators. Eleven subjects were arrested over the past week on numerous felony counts including insurance...

California Legislature Considers Changes to State Workers’ Comp Insurer

Apr 2 2008 // California’s Legislature will hear testimony today regarding operations of the state’s largest workers’ compensation insurer. Senate Bill 1145 will be heard by the Senate Banking, Finance and Insurance...

California Appeals Court: SCIF Erred in Denying Access to PPN

Apr 1 2008 // A California Court of Appeals has ruled that the state’s primary workers’ compensation insurer cannot deny an occupational medical clinic from its preferred provider network because it impaired the...

California Legislature Considers Insurance Bills

Apr 1 2008 // California’s legislature is considering several insurance-related bills this session. Following is a synopsis, as summarized by the Association of California Insurance Companies, of bills still pending. *Assembly...

California Trio Arrested for International Auto Insurance Fraud

Mar 31 2008 // Three individuals have been arrested in California for allegedly being involved in a five-person conspiracy that resulted in a vehicle owned by one of the conspirators driven to Mexico where it was “chopped”...

California Assembly Considering Insurance Agent-Broker Bill

Mar 31 2008 // A bill that would help to clarify when an insurance professional is acting in the capacity of a broker versus an agent in California is scheduled come before the state Assembly Insurance Committee no later than April 16,...

California May Create New Bond Insurer to Rival Buffett’s

Mar 28 2008 // California Treasurer Bill Lockyer is exploring the possibility of having state pension funds create a new bond insurer, his spokesman said Thursday. Lockyer has no immediate plans to use Berkshire Hathaway’s new bond...

California Workers’ Comp Insurance Rating Bureau Not Filing Mid-Year Rate Change

Mar 28 2008 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California has announced it has decided not to file for a mid-year pure premium rate change. Accepting a recommendation made by the WCIRB Actuarial Committee, the...

California Labor Commissioner Nails Salons for Illegally Classifying Employees

Mar 28 2008 // Officials with the California State Division of Labor Standards Enforcement (Labor Commissioner’s Office) issued 52 citations totaling $156,000 in fines to Northern California spas and beauty salons in a recent...

Preferred Employers Introducers Medical Provider Network for California Businesses

Mar 26 2008 // San Diego-based Preferred Employers Insurance Co., which specializes inworkers’ compensation insurance for small employers in California, has created a medical provider network for treatment of work related injuries....

Research: Hands-Free Law Might Not Make California Roads Safer

Mar 26 2008 // A growing body of evidence suggests California requiring adult drivers to use hands-free devices with their cell phones will do little to reduce crashes. Research shows being a distracted driver is not necessarily about...