Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
California Warehouse Fire Defendant Says No One Was in Charge
Jun 19 2019 // The San Francisco Bay Area warehouse where a fire killed 36 people more than two years ago was an artist enclave where nobody was fully in charge, one of two men blamed for the fire testified this week. Max Harris told a...
PG&E Settles for $1B with Local Governments for California Fire Claims
Jun 19 2019 // PG&E Corp. will pay $1 billion as part of its bankruptcy reorganization to more than a dozen local governments in California struck by wildfires in recent years, the company and lawyers for the governments said on...
Bayer Asks Judge to Overrule $2 Billion Monsanto Roundup Verdict
Jun 19 2019 // Bayer AG has asked a California judge to overrule a $2 billion verdict by jurors who found the company’s glyphosate-based Roundup weed killer responsible for a couple’s cancer, arguing the jury decision was not...
States Reviewing Proposed Sale of Workers’ Comp Specialist Applied Underwriters
Jun 19 2019 // A possible sale of workers’ compensation specialist Applied Underwriters looks to be a step closer to reality. The California Department of Insurance is reviewing an application for the sale of the Calif.-based...
Hub International Acquires Foster & Parker Insurance Agency in California
Jun 18 2019 // Hub International Ltd. has acquired Foster & Parker Insurance Agency Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Steve Barsotti, president of Foster & Parker Insurance, and the staff will join Hub California. Foster...
Stringent Climate Policy Poised to Pass in Oregon
Jun 18 2019 // Oregon is on the precipice of becoming the second state after California to adopt a cap-and-trade program, a market-based approach to lowering the greenhouse gas emissions behind global warming. Supporters call it the...
Small Quake Confirmed Near Central California Town
Jun 17 2019 // The U.S. Geological Survey confirmed a magnitude 3.2 earthquake hit central California. The agency says the earthquake hit a spot 11.4 miles southwest of Darwin, a town of about 36 people, at 6:48 p.m. The agency says the...
TigerRisk Names Frase Partner in California
Jun 17 2019 // TigerRisk Partners LLC has named Lindsey Frase a partner and member of its North American current client division. Frase will report to Wade Gulbransen, global head of reinsurance. Frase started her reinsurance industry...
Early Cannabis Insurance Claims Experience Differs from Expectations
Jun 17 2019 // It’s still early, but claims experience thus far in the cannabis insurance market is encouraging, according to one leading writer. “So far, we’re optimistic that we’re going to see that our...
California Surplus Lines Stamping Fee Goes to 0.25% in 2020
Jun 17 2019 // The Surplus Line Association of California board has voted to adjust the stamping fee to 0.25%, effective Jan. 1, 2020, the group announced earlier this month. The stamping fee has been set at 0.2% for seven years, the...
Wells Fargo Settling California Car Loan Suit for $385M
Jun 17 2019 // Wells Fargo has agreed to pay at least $385 million to settle a California lawsuit alleging it signed up thousands of auto loan customers for costly car insurance without their consent, resulting in many having their...
Hammer Sparks Led to California’s Mendocino Blaze
Jun 17 2019 // California fire officials say sparks from a hammer driving a metal stake into the ground ignited a 2018 blaze in Northern California that killed a firefighter and became the largest wildland fire in state history. The...
AM Best Downgrades Credit Ratings of California Casualty Group Members
Jun 14 2019 // AM Best has downgraded the Long-Term Issuer Credit Ratings (Long-Term ICR) to “bbb” from “bbb+” and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating (FSR) of B++ (Good) of The California Casualty Indemnity...
Arthur J. Gallagher Acquires Abram Interstate Insurance Services in California
Jun 14 2019 // Arthur J. Gallagher & Co. has acquired Rocklin, Calif.-based Abram Interstate Insurance Services Inc. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Ron Abram and his associates will remain in their current location under the...
Travelers Beefing Up Wildfire Protection After 2018 California Blazes
Jun 14 2019 // Travelers Cos. is strengthening its wildfire-defense efforts after deadly blazes swept through California last year. The insurer is adding a service to all of its California home and landlord policies, helping customers...
Uber, Lyft Appeal for Deal on Driver Status as Independent Contractors
Jun 14 2019 // Faced with legislation in California that endangers their business model, Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. are urging a compromise that would keep their drivers from being considered employees. “We can make...
California Man with Brain Damage to Get $5.2M in Taser Lawsuit
Jun 13 2019 // Sacramento will pay $5.2 million to the family of a man who was repeatedly shocked by police Tasers and left with severe brain damage, according to a newspaper report. The City Council voted in a closed-door session to...
Jury Orders J&J, Colgate to Pay Almost $10 Million in Talc Case
Jun 13 2019 // Johnson & Johnson and Colgate-Palmolive Co. must pay almost $10 million to a dying California woman who blamed the companies’ talc-based products for her rare cancer. The jury verdict in state court in Oakland is...
Former UCLA Gynecologist Pleads Not Guilty to Patient Sex Abuse
Jun 12 2019 // A retired gynecologist who worked at the University of California, Los Angeles for decades has pleaded not guilty to sexually abusing two patients during examinations and the campus is asking anyone who may have other...
Union General in California Adds Five to Expanding Team
Jun 12 2019 // Concord, Calif.-based Union General Insurance Services has added five people to its team. Included in that group are two managing directors: Scott Lane for Oregon and Nevada, and Ben Bailey for Southern California. Lane...
