Latest California Headlines

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

Calif. Insurance Commissioner Announces New Regulations for Auto Insurance Rates

Dec 23 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced that he will introduce new regulations next week that require insurers to base auto rates primarily on a driver’s record and not on ZIP code. According...

Calif. Court Decision Expected to Lower Workers’ Comp Rates

Dec 22 2005 // Los Angeles based law firm Roxborough, Pomerance & Nye LLP recently won a ruling that the firm said will affect the way workers’ compensation premiums are calculated for California employers covered by a carrier...

Auto Dealers Compensation of Calif. Returns $9.6 Million in Equity

Dec 21 2005 // The Trustee Board of the Auto Dealers Compensation of California Inc. (AD-COMP(R)), has announced an equity distribution of approximately $9.6 million to its auto dealership members. AD-COMP(R), formed in 2002, is a...

Calif. Insurance Wholesalers Assoc. Creates Grassroots Campaign

Dec 21 2005 // The California Insurance Wholesalers Association has launched a grassroots campaign to help its members have a more active and profound voice at the state legislative level. According to Mark Maucere, president, the...

Bliss & Glennon Adds New Market for Calif. Residential Contractors

Dec 21 2005 // Redondo Beach, Calif.-based Bliss & Glennon has a new market for residential contractors in California. This market is non-admitted and rated “A- VIII” by AM Best’s. This market will entertain both...

California Insurers Charge Drivers in Black, Latino Neighborhoods More, Report Indicates

Dec 20 2005 // Insurers charge good drivers living in California’s predominantly African-American and Latino zip codes substantially more for automobile insurance than good drivers in predominantly white communities, claims an...

Costs Lower When Employers Choose, Says Study that Included Mass., Pa. Systems

Dec 19 2005 // Costs Lower When Employers Choose, Says Study that Included Mass., Pa. Systems The choice of medical care providers to treat injured workers by either workers or their employer not only impacts medical costs but also a...

People & Places

Dec 19 2005 // Clarissa A. Preston Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley announced that Clarissa A. Preston has been named deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance Office of Property and Casualty, and Scott...

Calif. Physician Sentenced for Eight Years

Dec 19 2005 // A Brentwood, Calif., physician who pleaded no contest to fraud charges in three separate cases was sentenced to an eight-year prison term and ordered to pay his victims $5 million, the District Attorney’s office...

Marin County Contractor Pleads Guilty

Dec 18 2005 // A licensed general contractor and owner of a Marin County, Calif., roofing company has pled guilty to workers’ compensation insurance premium fraud, unemployment insurance fraud and filing false income tax...

Calif. Court Rules in Favor of Earthquake Policyholders

Dec 18 2005 // An insurance broker was a representative for the California Fair Plan Insurance Co. with regard to the Northridge earthquake revival statute, which gave policyholders another year to file lawsuits against their insurers in...

People

Dec 18 2005 // Louisiana Insurance Commissioner Robert Wooley announced that Clarissa A. Preston has been named deputy commissioner of the Louisiana Department of Insurance Office of Property and Casualty, and Scott Kipper is now deputy...

Choice of Medical Care Provider Affects Injured Worker Outcomes

Dec 18 2005 // The choice of medical care providers to treat injured workers by either workers or their employer not only impacts medical costs but also a variety of outcomes for injured workers, according to a study by the Workers...

Calif. Governor Picks Insurance Industry Lobbyist for Deputy Chief of Staff

Dec 15 2005 // California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has chosen an insurance industry lobbyist to be his deputy chief of staff and senior advisor for policy development, a new position.Starting at the new year, Dan Dunmoyer will...

Calif. Man Sentenced Following Plea on Pair of Workers’ Comp Fraud Counts

Dec 15 2005 // Ventura County (California) District Attorney Gregory Totten reported that Everardo Ramirez Vega (DOB 11-28-1967) was recently sentenced after his plea on two felony counts of workers’ compensation fraud. The...

17 Arrested in Calif. on Insurance Fraud, Grand Theft

Dec 15 2005 // Calif. Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi has announced the arrests of 17 suspects in connection with an alleged Southern California insurance fraud scheme that netted more than $100,000 through ruse involving a former...

CDI Fraud Division Aids Bust of 23 Individuals in Auto Theft Ring

Dec 15 2005 // The California Department of Insurance (CDI) reported its major role in the bust of a major auto theft ring that could potentially have generated more than $420,000 in insurance fraud. The CDI Fraud Division was reportedly...

Calif. Latin American Agents Association Names Auto Market of the Year

Dec 15 2005 // The California-based Latin American Agents Association has awarded Birmingham, Ala.-based Infinity Property and Casualty Corp. its “Auto Market of the Year.” This was the second time in five years that Infinity...

New Market for Technology Related Services in Calif.

Dec 13 2005 // SIU LLC, Glendale, Calif., has a new market for general liability and property of Technology Related Services in California. No professional liability is required to be in force. Policy limits are $1 million/$2 million....

Calif. Unprepared for Tsunami

Dec 13 2005 // Tsunami waves generated by a large offshore earthquake would threaten at least 1 million coastal residents in California and inundate the nation’s largest port complex, according to a new report. The study, released...