Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
A.M. Best Revises Outlooks to Stable for Aspire General in California
Oct 15 2018 // A.M. Best has revised the outlooks to stable from negative and affirmed the Financial Strength Rating of B+ (Good) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of “bbb-” of Aspire General Insurance Co. in Rancho...
California Insurance Commissioner OKs Workers’ Comp Rating Bureau Filing
Oct 15 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has approved a filing from the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau’s that makes amendments to uniform statistical reporting and experience rating. The...
California Bracing for High Winds, Increased Wildfire Danger
Oct 15 2018 // Potentially powerful winds combined with dry weather are raising the threat of wildfires in California. State firefighters say they are preparing for potential extreme fire weather early in the week. The National Weather...
Time to Revisit Independent Contractor vs. Employed Producer Status
Oct 15 2018 // Insurance agencies across the country hire some or all producers as independent contractors instead of as employees. The mixed use of employees and independent contractors in insurance is common in other industries as...
Insurtech Jumpstart Rolls out Parametric Earthquake Product for Californians
Oct 15 2018 // A firm that wants to make a name for itself as the first parametric insurtech in the U.S. for earthquakes has officially launched in California, over a year after its anticipated original launch date. Jumpstart Insurance...
2018 Workers’ Comp-Related Bills Signed into Law in California
Oct 15 2018 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California in early October issued a summary of legislation signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Legislature recessed for the year on Aug. 31, and Brown had...
$4M Settlement for Police Explorers Molested in California
Oct 12 2018 // An attorney says victims molested by a Southern California police officer while participating in the department’s Police Explorer program have reached a $4 million settlement in a civil lawsuit. Anthony DeMarco says...
Walmart Paying $65M to Settle California Suit Over Seating For Cashiers
Oct 12 2018 // Walmart Inc. has agreed to pay $65 million to nearly 100,000 current and former cashiers in California who accused the retailer of violating state law by refusing to provide them with seating while they worked. Walmart...
Woes of California Wildfire Victims Include Cleanup Crews, Fraud
Oct 11 2018 // One year after a devastating series of wildfires ripped through Northern California wine country, destroying thousands of homes, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ first experience cleaning up after a wildfire has...
Charity First in California Names Paz-Cazares Business Underwriter
Oct 10 2018 // San Francisco, Calif.-based Charity First Insurance Services Inc. has named Margarita Paz-Cazares a new business underwriter. Paz-Cazares has more than 25 years of experience as a multiline commercial underwriter. She was...
Northern California’s Cascade Wildfire Tied to PG&E Equipment
Oct 9 2018 // PG&E Corp.-owned equipment caused the Cascade fire in Northern California last year, state investigators have determined. Sagging power lines were the ignition source of the blaze, the California Department of Forestry...
Registration Opens For 2019 Seismic Retrofit Grant Program in California
Oct 9 2018 // Registration opens today for the 2019 Earthquake Brace + Bolt program, which offers eligible homeowners grants of up to $3,000 for seismic retrofits to strengthen their older houses and make them more resistant to...
Alliant Names Guth Vice President in Southern California
Oct 9 2018 // Alliant Insurance Services Inc. has named Daniel J. Guth a vice president in Orange County, Calif. Guth will provide workers’ compensation, risk management, and property/casualty solutions to a diverse portfolio of...
Report: California Self-Insured Workers’ Comp Claim Frequency Rose Last Year
Oct 8 2018 // Workers’ compensation claim frequency reported by California’s private self-insured employers rose last year, the first increase in a decade, according to the California Workers’ Compensation...
Parents of Teen Who Drowned in Swim Class File Claim in California
Oct 8 2018 // The parents of a teenager who drowned during a high school swim class have filed a claim with his Northern California school district. The claim, generally a precursor to a lawsuit, alleges that a physical education...
California Heads into its Peak Fire Season with State-Sized Burn Scar
Oct 8 2018 // California is poised to set an annual record it never wanted to break: the amount of earth scorched by wildfires. Blazes have already ripped through enough acres to blacken the entire state of Delaware, and what’s...
Summary of 2018 Workers’ Comp-Related Bills Signed into Law in California
Oct 4 2018 // The Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California on Thursday issued a summary of legislation signed into law by Gov. Jerry Brown. The Legislature recessed for the year on Aug. 31, and Brown had until...
California Insurance Commissioner Wants Inventory Requirements Eased for 2018 Wildfire Survivors
Oct 4 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones wants insurers to assist wildfire survivors by voluntarily easing detailed personal property home inventory requirements and to follow the lead of other insurers providing at...
Murray and Murray in California Rebranding to Leavitt Coastal Valley
Oct 4 2018 // Santa Maria, Calif.-based Murray and Murray Insurance has rebranded to better reflect its affiliation with the Leavitt Group. The agency will now do business as Leavitt Coastal Valley. Dan Lillard remains the managing...
Remnants of Tropical Storm Causes Flooding, Traps Arizona Cars
Oct 4 2018 // Remnants of a tropical storm drenched parts of the desert Southwest this week, trapping some drivers on swamped streets of Phoenix, Ariz. as authorities prepared for possible flash flooding in the state, central Utah and...
