Latest California Headlines

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

Wildfire Relief for PG&E in California May Not Include Fix Utility Wants

Nov 26 2018 // PG&E Corp., suspected of starting California’s deadliest wildfire, may soon get help from state lawmakers – just not the help it most wants. As early as Dec. 3, a lawmaker plans to introduce a bill that would...

Report by 13 U.S. Agencies Warns of Dire Economic Effects from Climate Change

Nov 25 2018 // As California’s catastrophic wildfires recede and people rebuild after two hurricanes, a massive new federal report warns that these types of disasters are worsening in the United States because of global warming....

Judge Picks First Case for Trial in Federal Monsanto Weedkiller Litigation

Nov 21 2018 // A U.S. judge overseeing the federal litigation against Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit over glyphosate-based weed-killers allegedly causing cancer on Tuesday selected the first case to be tried in federal court in February...

A.M. Best Assesses Wildfires’ Effect on Home Insurance Market, Insurers’ PG&E Exposure

Nov 20 2018 // Roughly one-in-10 insurers have exposures to PG&E bonds, which could potentially used to payout on losses from the California wildfires, according to ratings agency A.M. Best. It was recently determined that a second...

Alera Group Acquires Orion Risk Management Insurance Services in California

Nov 20 2018 // Alera Group has acquired Orion Risk Management Insurance Services. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Orion is a commercial insurance broker and risk management firm with three locations throughout Southern...

USG Names Gray Producer in Southern California

Nov 20 2018 // USG Holdings Inc. has named Ali Gray a producer/broker in the Irvine, Calif. branch. Gray will continue to build his book of business and assist with the expansion of USG’s West Coast footprint. He has 9 years of...

PG&E’s $1.4B in Wildfire Insurance May Not Be Enough, But Was ‘Regular Amount’

Nov 20 2018 // PG&E Corp.’s $1.4 billion in wildfire insurance may not be enough to cover all its potential liabilities from the deadliest blaze in California history. But the company wasn’t necessarily skimping on...

Lawmaker in California Working on Fire Relief Legislation for PG&E

Nov 20 2018 // A bill that would help PG&E Corp. absorb liabilities from this year’s fatal wildfires in California is being drafted at the request of a state assemblyman who helped shepherd earlier legislation on the...

United Valley Adds IWV in California, Maki in Arizona

Nov 19 2018 // United Valley Insurance Services Inc. has added IWV Insurance Agency LLC of Ridgecrest, Calif., and Maki Insurance Group of Anthem, Ariz. IWV offers personal and businesses insurance services throughout California. Maki...

Topa CFO Morrison to Retire, Genalo Named Successor of California Company

Nov 19 2018 // Calabasas, Calif.-based Topa Insurance Group announced that Cynthia Morrison, senior vice president and chief financial officer, will retire. Morrison is retiring effective Jan. 31, 2019. Lawrence Genalo, assistant vice...

Latest Estimates of Insured Losses from California Wildfires at $9B to $13B

Nov 19 2018 // Insured losses from the Camp and Woolsey wildfires in California will be between $9 billion and $13 billion, according to the latest estimates from catastrophe modeler RMS. RMS’ latest estimates released on Monday...

PG&E Says There Was Another Outage on Morning of California Wildfire

Nov 19 2018 // California utility PG&E Corp , facing investor concerns over its possible role in the deadly Camp Fire in Northern California, has reported another power-line outage that it experienced on the morning of Nov. 8 when...

California Insurance Commissioner Reduces Workers’ Comp Pure Premium

Nov 19 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones earlier this month issued a revised advisory workers’ compensation pure premium rate, lowering the benchmark to $1.63 per $100 of payroll effective Jan. 1, 2019. Jones has...

$8.6B Worth of Homes at High or Extreme Risk from California Fires

Nov 16 2018 // A report out on Friday shows 23,044 homes with a total reconstruction cost value of $8.6 billion are at high or extreme risk of wildfire damage within the perimeters of the Camp Fire in Northern California and the Woolsey...

S&P Says Insurers and Reinsurers Can Absorb Losses from California Wildfires

Nov 16 2018 // S&P Global Ratings expects both the primary insurers and reinsurers to be able to absorb losses from the California wildfires, limiting them to an earnings event. However, the mounting bills from more frequents large...

California Judge Sets Date for Next Next Monsanto Cancer Trial

Nov 16 2018 // A California judge has granted an expedited trial in the case of a California couple suffering from cancer who sued Bayer AG’s Monsanto unit, alleging the company’s glyphosate-containing weed killer Roundup...

California Commissioner Wants Fire Claims Expedited, 9K Properties Lost

Nov 15 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Thursday issued a notice to insurers requesting they agree to expediting claims handling for Camp and Woolsey wildfire survivors to help them begin the recovery and...

Carbon Copies of Flo, Jake, Gecko Join Climate Change Protest at NAIC Meeting

Nov 15 2018 // An angry Flo, an unusually sullen Jake, a less-than cheeky Gecko and a hawkish duck stood outside the National Association of Insurance Commissioners meeting in San Francisco on Thursday in protest to call out the industry...

California Issues Emergency Declaration to Allow Out-of-State Adjusters to Help with Fire Claims

Nov 15 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has declared an emergency situation, which allows insurance companies to use out-of-state adjusters to help handle the large volume of claims resulting from the Camp and Woolsey...

Insurance Agent at Heart of Heartbreaking California Wildfire

Nov 14 2018 // Derek Ross has his hands full with the Woolsey Fire in Southern California for three reasons. He’s an insurance agent with numerous clients affected, he’s the president of the board of a school district...