Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Newfront Adds California-Based Brokers in Ag, Service and Manufacturing
Oct 7 2020 // Newfront Insurance has added a team of insurance brokers who were formerly part of Paramount Insurance in Fresno, Calif. The move reflects Newfront’s growing investment in agriculture, service and...
Family of Autistic Teen Getting $7.5M in California Golf Cart Death Settlement
Oct 6 2020 // The mother of an autistic teenager who died in a golf cart crash at a Southern California high school will receive $7.5 million in a lawsuit settlement. The agreement with the Orange Unified School District was announced...
Rebuilding in Wildfire Zones: A One-Stop Shop for Wildfire Victims
Oct 6 2020 // California is on fire. Already this year, thousands of people have lost their homes, and communities are struggling to figure out how to rebuild. Nikki Pechet wants to be the person they turn to. Pechet co-founded...
California Workers’ Comp Premium for First Two Quarters of 2020 Down 11%
Oct 5 2020 // Written workers’ compensation premium in California for the first two quarters of 2020 was 11% below that for the first two quarters of 2019, according to a new report out. The Worker’s Compensation Insurance...
Wholesale Trading Insurance Services Acquires Landmark E&S in California
Oct 5 2020 // Wholesale Trading Insurance Services LLC and its parent company, Jencap, LLC, have agreed to acquire privately held Landmark E&S Insurance Brokers LLC, an Anaheim, Calif. based specialty wholesale brokerage firm. Terms...
Ridesharing Companies Spend Big in California to Oppose Even Costlier Gig Law
Oct 5 2020 // Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc. together are spending nearly $100 million on a November California ballot initiative to overturn a state law that would compel them to classify drivers as employees. That sum looks less...
IMA Names Hennessey in California Cannabis Practice Leader
Oct 5 2020 // IMA Inc. has named Michael Hennessey as vice president, cannabis national practice leader. Hennessey is based in California. He will lead business development and client service efforts across the U.S. He joins IMA after...
Plaintiffs Win One, Lose One in COVID-19 BI Legal Fight
Oct 5 2020 // A federal judge in Florida late last month denied an insurer’s petition to dismiss a COVID-19 business-interruption lawsuit, while a federal magistrate judge in California threw out a similar claim. Both lawsuits...
Steep Drop in California Workers’ Comp IMRs in First Half of 2020
Oct 5 2020 // The number of independent medical reviews used to resolve California workers’ compensation medical disputes fell sharply in the first half of 2020 as the pandemic took a toll on the state’s economy with...
California Governor Planning to Ban Sale of New Gas Vehicles in 15 Years
Oct 5 2020 // California will ban the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger cars and trucks in 15 years, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced in late September, establishing a timeline in the nation’s most populous state that could force...
California Commissioner Asks Insurers to Cover Wildfire Losses Sans Home Inventory
Oct 2 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is asking insurance companies help wildfire survivors by providing up to 100% of personal property coverage limits without a detailed inventory to those who suffered a total...
California Workers’ Comp Bills Signed into Law
Oct 2 2020 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a handful of bills related to workers’ compensation, including bills dealing with COVID-19 and reporting the virus in the workplace. The Legislature recessed for the year on Aug....
California Nursery Worker Arraigned for Alleged Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 2 2020 // Fernando Torres Garcia, 46, self-surrendered and was arraigned at the Kern County Superior Court in California this week on nearly a dozen felony counts of insurance fraud after allegedly misrepresenting an injury in order...
Judges Dismisses $18M in Liens Filed by California Medical Provider Convicted of Fraud
Oct 1 2020 // An administrative law judge in California has dismissed liens valued at $18 million filed by convicted medical provider Michael E. Barri, bringing to a close one of the earliest cases aimed at combatting fraud in...
California Governor Signs Four Bills Affecting Cannabis Industry
Oct 1 2020 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed into law four bills affecting the cannabis industry, and vetoed one. The cannabis-related bills Newsom signed are: Assembly Bill 1458: Raises the label variance threshold for edible...
Uber, Lyft Seeking to Kill California Law App-Based Drivers
Oct 1 2020 // Californians are being asked decide if Uber, Lyft and other app-based drivers should remain independent contractors or be eligible for the benefits that come with being company employees. The battle between the powerhouses...
New California Law Comes From Crash That Killed Kobe Bryant
Sep 30 2020 // Gov. Gavin Newsom has approved legislation prompted by the helicopter crash that killed Kobe Bryant and eight other people that makes it a crime for first responders to take unauthorized photos of deceased people at the...
Report: Nearly 2M Homes at Elevated Risk of Wildfire
Sep 30 2020 // Nearly 2 million homes, mostly in the Western U.S., with a rebuilding value of more than $638 billion are at an elevated risk of wildfire damage, a report out today shows. An annual wildfire report from data provider...
Online Platform Kin Insurance Expanding to California
Sep 29 2020 // Kin Insurance announced it will begin serving California with its online platform to enable homeowners to obtain insurance quotes, customize coverage and get insured online or over the phone. Kin originally launched in...
California Ban on Fracking by 2024 Criticized as Too Late
Sep 28 2020 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom moved Wednesday to end issuing new hydraulic fracturing permits by 2024, a delay criticized by many environmental groups but characterized as legally and politically realistic by...
