Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Calif. Sweep Nets Four Fraud Suspects
Apr 4 2005 // Starting Feb. 24, investigators from the California Department of Insurance’s Fraud Division conducted joint operations in the Central Valley to execute outstanding arrest warrants. CDI partnered with the Fresno...
IBA West President Discusses Broker Disclosure, Work Comp Issues
Apr 4 2005 // Mark Wells, publisher of Insurance Journal, recently spoke to Stan Simpson, the newly elected president of the Insurance Agents and Brokers of the West and a principal at Buckman-Mitchell Inc., an independent agency in...
Court Upholds Industry Lawsuit: CDI’s Homeowners Regulations Illegal
Apr 4 2005 // Charges by the California Department of Insurance that the California homeowners insurance industry arbitrarily nonrenews or raises rates on homeowners who file one claim or make an inquiry about their coverage is little...
Homeowners Moving to the West Coast
Apr 4 2005 // Whether your client owns a multi-million dollar home overlooking the Pacific Ocean or a small bungalow tucked away a mile from the beach, it is your responsibility to find the right homeowners insurance coverage that will...
Record Rainfall Will Lead to a Flood of Litigation
Apr 4 2005 // As Los Angeles inches toward its highest annual rainfall total on record, the property damage left in the wake of the storms is devastating. All across the Southland, homes have toppled down hillsides as if they were toys....
Help Your Clients by Becoming a Small Business Advocate
Apr 4 2005 // One of the great things about being a commercial lines insurance agent is that you get to meet people and learn a little bit about a lot of businesses. This knowledge puts insurance agents in a unique position to represent...
Insurance Group Staying out of California Workers’ Comp Confirmation Fight
Apr 4 2005 // A major insurance industry group is staying out of the Senate confirmation fight over Gov. Schwarzenegger’s workers’ comp director, another possible indication the appointment could be in trouble. The...
Some 200 Insurance-Related Bills Introduced in California Legislature
Apr 4 2005 // About 200 insurance-related bills have been introduced in the California Legislature this session, according to The Association of California Insurance Companies. “We expect during the upcoming months that the issues...
Adjusters can Detect the Problem of Underinsurance Before Disaster Strikes
Apr 4 2005 // In the aftermath of the devastating Southern California wildfires of October 2003, claim adjusters went to work in an area where an estimated 3,631 structures were destroyed. In many cases the only remaining indication of...
Downgrade of Calif. Auto Company Results from Reinsurance Broker Error
Apr 1 2005 // Effective immediately, AM Best has downgraded Workmen’s Auto Insurance Company from a B++ to a B(u), citing the company’s drop in surplus as the main reason for the downgrade. The company has filed a lawsuit...
Calif. Commissioner Announces Legislation Requiring Insurers to Invest in Underserved Communities
Mar 31 2005 // California Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi and Assembly member Mark Ridley-Thomas (D-Los Angeles) introduced AB 925, a new piece of legislation that would require insurers to make investments in low- and...
Calif. Consumer Advocate Rosenfield Urges Mass. to Repeal No-Fault, Make Other Auto Changes
Mar 29 2005 // Massachusetts should repeal its no-fault law, end its reliance on uniform state-set rates, and remove the state antitrust exemption for auto insurers if it wants to improve its auto insurance system for consumers. That...
Calif. Insurance Critic to Take On Mass. Auto
Mar 28 2005 // Nationally recognized insurance reformer and Massachusetts native Harvey Rosenfield will return to his home state Tuesday, March 29 to unveil a report he says shows how much more Massachusetts drivers pay for auto...
WCIRB Proposes 10.4 Percent Decrease in Pure Premium Rates
Mar 28 2005 // On March 25, 2005, the WCIRB submitted a filing to the California Insurance Commissioner recommending a 10.4 percent decrease in advisory pure premium rates effective July 1, 2005 on new and renewal policies. The proposed...
Calif. Man Sentenced for Workers’ Comp Fraud
Mar 22 2005 // Gregg Leo Curwick, of Rancho Cucamonga, California, has been sentenced by the Kern County Superior Court for workers’ compensation insurance fraud after a joint investigation by the California Department of Insurance...
Conn. Finds Aggressive Drivers U-Turn into Trouble After Retraining
Mar 21 2005 // Connecticut officials are alarmed at the high recidivism rate of aggressive drivers forced to attend traffic offender school. Nearly 42 percent of the 77,000 motorists who attended driver retraining between 2001 and 2003...
People & Places
Mar 21 2005 // William Sousa The board of directors of Foster City, Calif.-based National Automobile Club has announced the appointment of William P. Sousa Jr. to the office of president and CEO. In his new position, Sousa will be...
CALIF. JUDGE TOSSES OUT LAWSUIT INVOLVING ACE COMPANIES:
Mar 21 2005 // The ACE Group of Companies announced that California Superior Court Judge James Warren has entered judgment in favor of several ACE companies in a lawsuit brought against Insurance Company of North America, INA Financial...
Man with Multiple Identities Indicted in International Scam
Mar 21 2005 // Matthew Wallace Schachter, aka Robert Lewis Brown, aka Matthew C. Rollins, was indicted in February on federal charges relating to an insurance fraud scheme that allegedly netted more than $20 million over the last four...
Calif. Small Business Owners Optimistic About Growth, UBOC Survey Says
Mar 21 2005 // Almost 71 percent of California small business owners polled are expecting 2005 to be an overall better year than 2004, according to the fifth annual statewide survey released by Union Bank of California, N.A. The...
