Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
FLA. OUTPACES NATION IN FRAUD CONVICTIONS:
Jan 12 2004 // Florida once again leads the nation in the number of insurance fraud convictions and cases presented for prosecution, according to a study released recently by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, a national alliance of...
Schwarzenegger Governs One-Eighth of the U.S. Population
Jan 12 2004 // The U.S. Census Bureau’s Census 2000 estimated the population of the California at 33,871,648. Approximately 76 percent of the adult residents had graduated from high school and about 16 percent had earned a college...
Anniversary of Northridge Quake Prompts Physical, Fiscal Preparedness
Jan 9 2004 // Few people can forget the devastation of the Northridge earthquake, but for some, it’s all too easy to overlook how a major earthquake can leave personal finances in shambles. The Northridge quake caused more than...
NAMIC Report Details State Tort Reform Efforts
Jan 9 2004 // A report detailing state legislative efforts to reform the U.S. civil justice system was recently released by the National Association of Mutual Insurance Companies (NAMIC). The report, part of a NAMIC series regarding...
New California P/C Trade Association Formed
Jan 6 2004 // A new California state P/C trade association is being formed by a group of small and mid-sized California domestic insurers. The members write homeowners, auto and commercial lines except workers’ compensation and...
PIFC Elects Board Chairman and Officers for the 2004 Operating Year
Jan 6 2004 // Dan Dunmoyer, president of the Personal Insurance Federation of California (PIFC), announced that Ron Coble, vice president and California state executive director, Farmers Insurance Group, was elected chairman of the...
SBAC Notes Major Calif. Workers’ Comp Initiative
Jan 2 2004 // In a move to combat California’s out-of-control workers compensation system, the Small Business Action Committee (SBAC) announced that it has filed an initiative to reportedly reduce the cost of the system by as much...
Calif. Court Upholds Mutuals’ Discretion on Dividends
Dec 31 2003 // A California Court of Appeals ruled that policyholders of mutual companies cannot compel directors to declare dividends unless they can provide evidence that the board failed to declare dividends due to fraud, oppression,...
Munich Re 2003 Catastrophe Study – Fatalities up 450 Percent; $15 Billion Insured Losses
Dec 30 2003 // Munich Re has released its analysis of natural catastrophes in 2003 and concluded that economic and insured losses continue to increase at a high level. Preliminary portions of the study had been presented at the recent...
Calif. Agent Fees Up 10% in 2004
Dec 30 2003 // The California Department of Insurance sent out a reminder a few weeks ago reminding all insurance licensees that they will be ringing in the New Year with a 10 percent fee increase, the American Agents Alliance said in...
California Housing Market Sets Record, But Rising Prices Pose Challenges for First-time Buyers
Dec 23 2003 // The California housing market is poised to finish 2003 by setting new records across the board for the second consecutive year, according to a report, “State of the Housing Market 2003,” from the California...
Fla. Outpaces Nation in Fraud Convictions
Dec 19 2003 // Florida once again leads the nation in the number of insurance fraud convictions and cases presented for prosecution, according to a study released this week (see National news) by the Coalition Against Insurance Fraud, a...
Calif. Commissioner Issues Statement on Settlement of Executive Life Case
Dec 19 2003 // Insurance Commissioner John Garamendi praised the U.S. Attorney’s Office for its work in securing a $770 million settlement of the criminal case against Credit Lyonnais and others involved in the Executive Life...
Employers Direct Cuts Calif. Rates More than Twice State Average
Dec 19 2003 // Employers Direct Insurance Company has cut its workers’ compensation insurance rates by 8.2 percent in its current filing with the California Department of Insurance. This decrease is reportedly more than twice the...
Buttafuoco Among 11 Charged With Auto Repair Fraud
Dec 19 2003 // Nine owners or employees of area auto repair shops were arrested and charged today with auto insurance fraud following a lengthy investigation by a multi-agency task force headed by the District Attorney’s Bureau of...
Calif. Employers, Industry Experts to Confront Workers’ Comp Crisis
Dec 16 2003 // Workers’ Compensation and disability management experts from across California will meet for a solutions-based conference on workers’ comp issues, Jan. 28-30, in Manhattan Beach, Calif. ABD Insurance and...
Gallagher Acquires Calif. Broker
Dec 15 2003 // Itasca, Ill.-based brokerage giant Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. announced the acquisition of Avery-Hammer Insurance Associates, Inc. of Fresno, California. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Founded in 1980,...
California State Average Weekly Wage Declines Between 2002 and 2003
Dec 15 2003 // Labor Code Section 4659(c), included in AB 749, the workers’ compensation benefit increase bill passed in 2002, requires that for injuries on or after Jan. 1, 2003, permanent total disability (PTD) payments be...
Industry People Making Moves in 2003
Dec 15 2003 // As you will probably notice from this list, it is not scientific, preferential, etc. We retraced news coverage of this past year and tried to come to an agreement on who made headlines. We likely left off a few...
The Southern California Firestorms of 2003
Dec 15 2003 // The wildfires that raged through San Bernardino and San Diego Counties in October have now been declared the worst fire disaster in the history of the insurance industry. More than 8,000 firefighters battled roaring flames...
