Latest California Headlines

California Doctor Accused of Negligence, Incompetence

Nov 10 2008 // California regulators have accused the former head of UC Irvine Medical Center’s anesthesiology department of gross negligence and incompetence for allegedly falsifying anesthesiology records and assigning a resident...

Agencies Announce Leavitt Benefits Insurance Services of Southern California

Nov 10 2008 // Barlocker Insurance Services-Laguna Hills, PrideMark-Everest and Valley Insurance Service are merging their benefits operations to create a new entity, Leavitt Benefits Services of Southern California. The property and...

California Warns Consumers of Brooke Policies

Nov 7 2008 // California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner encouraged consumers who have purchased insurance policies through Brooke franchises to verify their coverage, in light of recent closures at Brooke. It is unlikely that an...

California Increases Temporary Total Disability Rate

Nov 4 2008 // The California Division of Workers’ Compensation announced that the maximum temporary total disability (TTD) rate will increase to $958.01 on Jan. 1, 2009. The increase to the maximum TTD rate marks the third year in...

Mercury General Reports Net Loss of $140.5 million in Q3

Nov 3 2008 // Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corp. has announced its results for the third quarter ended Sept. 30, 2008. Net loss in the third quarter was $130.5 million, compared with net income of $63.3 million in the same period...

Public School Officials Can Be Liable for Not Responding to Harassment Claims

Nov 2 2008 // A California school district could be liable for damages for an inadequate response to peer sexual orientation harassment suffered by students, the California Court of Appeal ruled. According to Megan Donovan et al. v....

California Commissioner Announces 5% Workers’ Comp Rate Increase

Nov 2 2008 // Rejecting the Workers Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s (WCIRB) call for a 16 percent increase in the benchmark for determining workers’ compensation costs, California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner...

Aon Selling Auto Insurance Broker in California to Mercury General

Nov 2 2008 // Mercury Casualty Co., the largest insurance subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Mercury General Corp., agreed to buy Auto Insurance Specialists Inc. from Aon Corp. AIS is an independent broker and producer of automobile...

Surplus Lines Association of California Increases Stamping Fee

Nov 2 2008 // The Surplus Lines Association of California Executive Committee and the Stamping Committee has approved an increase in the stamping fee from 0.125 percent to 0.225 percent, effective Jan. 1, 2009. All new policies, renewal...

Law Changes Defense in Construction Defect Claims

Nov 2 2008 // New California Law Affects Wraps’ Indemnity Contracts, Could Increase Litigation California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has approved legislation affecting indemnity for construction defect claims in contracts in...

Nov 2 2008 // Pete Garvey, current president of Integro Ltd., assumed the additional responsibility of CEO for the insurance broker, succeeding Roger Egan, who has left the company. Garvey has served as president of Integro since 2005....

Willis Report: California May See Less Shaking in Earthquake

Nov 2 2008 // Ground view of collapsed building and burned area as a result of an earthquake at Beach and Divisadero, Marina District. Photo courtesy of C.E. Meyer, U.S. Geological Survey. California buildings are less likely to shake,...

Court: Pharmacy Can Be Liable for Dispensing Withdrawn Drugs

Nov 2 2008 // While nearly 100 pharmacists and the hospitals they work for face fines for failing to remove a blood thinner from their shelves after a federal recall last winter according to the California state Board of Pharmacy. The...

It Figures

Nov 2 2008 // 8.5% Decrease in the average property premium for the third quarter, according to a RIMS Benchmark Survey, an industry survey of policy renewal prices as reported by North American corporate risk managers. The survey...

California Recovers Nearly $13 Million Following 2007 Wildfires

Nov 2 2008 // Nearly one year after the October 2007 wildfires, the California Department of Insurance has recovered more than $12.7 million from insurance companies by standing up for consumers who had been shortchanged. The $12.7...

Study: California Earthquake Could Cause $200 Billion in Losses

Oct 31 2008 // If a magnitude 7.0 earthquake occured on California’s Hayward Fault today, it would result in economic losses between $210 billion and $235 billion, with only up to $30 billion likely to be insured, according to a...

Burke Joins Colemont’s California Operations as Senior VP

Oct 30 2008 // Colemont Insurance Brokers named Sean Burke a senior vice president and financial services broker. He will work out of the company’s San Francisco office to enhance and further develop the financial services practice...

California Change to Construction Contracts Could Increase Litigation

Oct 29 2008 // California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger has approved legislation affecting indemnity for construction defect claims in contracts in residential construction — a decision that could increase litigation when resolving...

Abram Interstate Offers Nonstandard Auto Program in California

Oct 29 2008 // Abram Interstate Insurance Services Inc. in Rocklin, Calif., has a new nonstandard auto program in California, called Abram Auto Advantage. Coverage is provided by an A.M. Best rated “A-” carrier. The program...

California State Compensation Insurance Fund Opens Green Campus

Oct 29 2008 // California’s State Compensation Insurance Fund has opened a new green campus in Vacaville, Calif. The group said in a demonstration of its ongoing commitment to ensuring the health of California’s communities...