Latest California Headlines
All the headlines from our California Topic Page, ordered by recency.
Power Outages in California as Winds Boost Fire Danger
Oct 26 2020 // Large swaths of California had no electricity Monday as utilities tried to prevent the chance of their equipment sparking wildfires while the fire-weary state was buffeted by powerful winds and dangerously dry weather...
Wrongful Death Suit Filed in California Over Woman Who Died After Ingesting Marijuana
Oct 26 2020 // The law firm CaseyGerry has filed a lawsuit in San Diego Superior Court on behalf of the parents of Le’Sharia Bre’Aun Steele, a 28-year old flight attendant from Alabama who died in San Diego, Calif. after...
Swiss Re Capital Markets Places $775M Cat Bond for California Earthquake Authority
Oct 23 2020 // Swiss Re Capital Markets has successfully structured and placed the issuance of USD $775 million of insurance-linked securities by Ursa Re II Ltd. to be used for the protection of the California Earthquake Authority. CEA...
Uber, Lyft Must Reclassify Drivers as Employees, Rules California Appeals Court
Oct 23 2020 // A California appeals court on Thursday unanimously ruled against ride-hailing companies Uber Technologies Inc. and Lyft Inc., saying they must reclassify their drivers in the state as employees. While the ruling does not...
Monitor: PG&E in California Prioritized Targets Over Reducing Wildfire Risk
Oct 22 2020 // PG&E Corp. prioritized meeting inspection targets over meaningful reduction of wildfire risk, according to a monitor overseeing the utility’s program of trimming trees and vegetation that pose a threat of...
Golden Bear in California Upgraded by AM Best
Oct 22 2020 // AM Best has upgraded the Financial Strength Rating to A (Excellent) from A- (Excellent) and the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating to “a” from “a-” of Golden Bear Insurance Co. in Stockton, Calif. The...
California Trucking Firm Owners Charged in Alleged $450K Workers’ Comp Fraud
Oct 22 2020 // Trucking company owners Hardip Singh, 44, and Amandeep Kaur, 36, were charged this week with multiple counts of insurance fraud after allegedly misclassifying employees as independent contractors in a scheme to underreport...
California Electrician Sentenced for Defrauding Workers’ Comp Providers, Employers
Oct 22 2020 // Michael Ray Williams, 37, of Daly City, Calif., was sentenced to 60 days in county jail and three years formal probation after pleading no contest to two felony counts of insurance fraud after illegally working for...
California Could See More Fire-Prevention Power Shutoffs
Oct 21 2020 // Electricity may be shut off to 50,000 Northern California utility customers this week to try to prevent power lines from sparking and igniting new wildfires during a predicted new round of gusty, hot and dry...
Applied Underwriters Sues California Over ‘Bad Faith’ Insurer Conservatorship Plan
Oct 21 2020 // Workers’ compensation specialist Applied Underwriters is suing California Insurance Department officials to halt a state plan its says would force its workers’ compensation partner California Insurance Co....
New Mercury Insurance Programs Target California Homeowners’ Wildfire Risk
Oct 21 2020 // Mercury Insurance has launched two new programs designed to help Californians better protect their homes and families if they live in areas prone to wildfires. Homeowners who take one or more steps to either harden their...
NTSB Faults Owners for Deadly California Dive Boat Fire, Calls for Major Safety Improvements to Small Passenger Vessels
Oct 20 2020 // The National Transportation Safety Board on Tuesday determined the probable cause of a 2019 California dive boat fire and sinking that killed 34 was the failure of the owner and operator of to provide effective oversight...
Disneyland Unions Tell California Governor Resort Can Be Reopened Safely Despite Virus
Oct 20 2020 // Unions representing over 10,000 Disney theme park workers have told California Gov. Gavin Newsom that the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, Calif., can safely reopen when its location moves into the state’s “orange...
California Pledges to Protect Homeowners from Insurer Withdrawals Due to Wildfires
Oct 19 2020 // California’s insurance commissioner on Monday pledged to step up efforts to protect the state’s residents from wildfires and address a pullback of private insurers from the state’s riskiest...
Specialty Broker NARDAC Launches in California
Oct 19 2020 // Newport Beach, Calif.-based NARDAC Insurance Services was recently launched by Jatin Sharma and co-founding partners Bill Kost and Brandon Statton. The new brokerage offers general products and services with highly...
Vast Majority of COVID-19 Workers’ Compensation Claims Are Small, Says NCCI
Oct 19 2020 // If COVID-19 behaves like other workers’ compensation lung and disease claims, about two out of 100 cases may result in some degree of permanent partial disability and one out of 2,000 may result in permanent total...
Celebrating 50 Years at the Helm of Insurance Journal
Oct 19 2020 // Entrepreneur, innovator, oenophile, insurance industry icon, all around great guy. That’s Mark Wells, the force behind Insurance Journal and Wells Media Group, who this year is celebrating his 50th anniversary in...
Ridesharing Companies Spend Big in California to Oppose Even Costlier Gig Law
Oct 19 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...
California Bills Signed into Law Related to Workers’ Comp
Oct 19 2020 // California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a handful of bills related to workers’ compensation. Following is a summary of the bills compiled by the Worker’s Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau: Senate Bill No....
California Commissioner Asks Insurers to Cover Wildfire Losses Sans Home Inventory
Oct 19 2020 // California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara is asking insurers to help wildfire survivors by providing up to 100% of personal property coverage limits without a detailed inventory to those who suffered a total loss of...
