Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Specialty Program Acquires Assets of PPIB in California
Jun 4 2018 // Specialty Program Group LLC has acquired the assets of Novato, Calif.-based Professional Program Insurance Brokerage. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Susan Preston, president of PPIB, will continue to run the...
California Legislators Said to Consider Wildfire Relief Fund to Help Utilities
Jun 4 2018 // California lawmakers are said to be considering a proposal to help utilities shoulder billions of dollars in potential liability costs while offering relief to wildfire victims by setting up a compensation fund that would...
GM Settles Suit with Motorcyclist Hit By Autonomous Vehicle in California
Jun 4 2018 // General Motors Co. agreed to settle a lawsuit filed by a motorcyclist involved in a minor crash with one of its self-driving cars in San Francisco late last year, the U.S. automaker said on Friday. Oscar Nilsson sued GM in...
Uber Ends Self-Driving Program in Arizona Following Fatality
Jun 4 2018 // Uber has shut down its self-driving car operation in Arizona two months after a fatal crash involving one of its vehicles, the company said last month. Uber Technologies Inc. is not shuttering its entire autonomous vehicle...
California Jury Delivers $25M Decision in Johnson & Johnson Suit
Jun 4 2018 // A California jury delivered a $25.7 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed she developed cancer by using the company’s talc-based baby powder. Jurors in Los Angeles...
California Workers’ Comp Directors and Officers Cleanup Law Takes Effect July 1
Jun 4 2018 // A new law that enables corporate directors and officers owning at least 10 percent of a business to opt out of workers’ compensation coverage goes into effect on July 1. The law is intended to reduce the threshold of...
Workers’ Comp : Healthy Underwriting Gain, Premium Growth Blockage
Jun 4 2018 // Workers’ compensation insurers are managing their premiums dollars better than they have in years, but those premium dollars are stagnating even as employment and wages are rising. In 2017, for the fourth consecutive...
People
Jun 4 2018 // Doug Slape has been promoted to second-in-command at the Texas Department of Insurance. Slape has been at the agency since 1988 and has served as deputy commissioner for the Financial Regulation Division the past three...
Report: California Workers’ Comp Direct Written Premiums Fell
Jun 1 2018 // California workers’ compensation covered payroll rose last year, but the average premium rate charged to employers fell 10 percent, so total direct written premium in the system declined by $192 million to $12.77...
EPIC Insurance Adds Nordbrock, Breskin, Barros and Fuentes in California
Jun 1 2018 // EPIC Insurance Brokers and Consultants has added risk management and insurance professionals Rose Nordbrock, Jeff Breskin, Pabla Barros and Jose Fuentes to the firm’s operations in Southern California. Nordbrock...
California Family Arson Ring Arraigned in $4M Insurance Fraud Case
Jun 1 2018 // A California family was arraigned on Thursday on more than 30 counts of fraud and arson. Tyler Chen, 46, and his wife, Kim, 45, were arraigned in the Santa Clara County Superior Court following their arrest on multiple...
Worldwide Facilities Acquiring RIC Insurance in California
May 31 2018 // Worldwide Facilities LLC has acquired the assets of Santa Rosa, Calif.-based RIC Insurance General Agency Inc. Terms of the deal weren’t disclosed. RIC will continue to maintain its client and market relationships...
California Cannabis Banking Bill Clears Senate, Heads to Assembly
May 31 2018 // A California bill to establish a state charter bank for cannabis businesses has passed the Senate Floor. Senate Bill 930, authored by state Sen. Bob Hertzberg, D-Van Nuys, would enable banks to issue checks to cannabis...
Alliant Names Harper Vice President of Healthcare Group in California
May 30 2018 // Alliant Insurance Services Inc. has named David Harper senior vice president within its Healthcare Group. He will be based in Orange County, Calif. and design customized insurance and risk management solutions for clients...
Tesla Hits Parked Police Vehicle in California, Driver Blames Autopilot
May 30 2018 // The driver of a Tesla Inc. Model S crashed into an unoccupied, parked police vehicle in Laguna Beach, Calif., on Tuesday and the driver told investigators the Tesla was in “Autopilot” mode at the time, police...
California Commissioner: Insurers Pocketing Comp Profits, Not Passing Savings to Employers
May 29 2018 // California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones on Tuesday adopted a revised workers’ compensation insurance advisory pure premium rate by lowering the benchmark to $1.74 per $100 of payroll for workers’ comp. The...
California Woman Hit by Bat at Minor League Game Revives Safety Debate
May 29 2018 // A Southern California woman’s recent injury by a baseball bat has renewed attention to fan safety at games. The Sun of San Bernardino reports Saturday that 27-year-old Cloey Heckendorn was hit in the head during the...
California Jury Delivers $25M Decision in Johnson & Johnson Suit
May 29 2018 // A California jury delivered a $25.7 million verdict against Johnson & Johnson in a lawsuit brought by a woman who claimed she developed cancer by using the company’s talc-based baby powder. Jurors in Los Angeles...
Report Blames PG&E Power Lines for 4 of Northern California Wildfires
May 28 2018 // PG&E Corp.’s equipment was responsible for causing four of the smaller wildfires that tore through Northern California last year, according to the first report issued by state investigators. The fires in Butte...
Southern California Agents Arrested for Fraud
May 25 2018 // California-based life insurance agents, Samuel Tadlock III, 32, of Eastvale, Marlene Ramirez, 42, of Murrieta, Daniel Herrarte, 34, of Sylmar, and Jorge Lopez Jr., 38, of San Fernando, were arrested this week on multiple...


