California Department of Insurance News

California Insurance Agent Nabbed for Fraud Scheme Involving 100-plus Policies

Vicki Lee McGinley, 58, a licensed insurance agent in California, was arrested by the Kern County Sheriff’s department on seven counts of identity theft and seven counts of insurance fraud after allegedly misrepresenting policy and premium information to clients resulting …

California Commissioner Approves Rate Reductions on State Farm Commercial Policies

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones has approved rate reductions for several State Farm commercial policies that he said will bring millions of dollars in premium savings for tens of thousands of small businesses, farm owners, apartment owners, and condo associations …

California Administrative Law Judge Orders State Farm to Refund $85M

An administrative law judge at the California Department of Insurance found that State Farm overcharged customers $85 million and ordered the carrier to issue refunds and reduce rates. The judge determined that since July 15, 2015, State Farm’s premiums for …

Southland Man Sentenced for Grand Theft After Posing as Insurance Agent

A Southern California man has been sentenced for grand theft for posing as a licensed insurance broker, selling insurance to commercial truckers and then pocketing premiums. Cristian Raul Videla, 34, of Van Nuys, Calif., pleaded no contest this week to …

California Agent Allegedly Took $100K from Employer And Clients

Suren Hovhannisyan, 27, a licensed insurance agent of North Hollywood, Calif., was arrested at his residence this week on multiple felony counts of burglary, grand theft, and unauthorized use of access cards after allegedly scheming to embezzle over $100,000 from …

Unlicensed Agent Nabbed for Stealing More Than $140K in Premiums

Robert Meseer, 63, of Westminster, was arrested by California Department of Insurance investigators on 32 felony counts of grand theft, insurance fraud, and forgery after acting as an insurance agent to allegedly steal more than $140,000 from several business owners. …

California Commissioner Asks National Regulators to Block Aetna-Humana Deal

California’s insurance commissioner on Thursday urged national antitrust regulators to block health insurer Aetna Inc’s proposed $34 billion acquisition of Humana Inc. David Jones, whose state Department of Insurance does not have authority to block the deal, said the acquisition …

Allstate Returns to California Homeowners Market With 12.6 Percent Reduction

Allstate Insurance returned to the California homeowners insurance market this week following a nine-year absence writing new policies. Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones welcomed Allstate, which entered into an agreement with the commissioner to reduce its homeowner insurance rates by an …

California Commissioner Lowers Workers’ Comp Advisory Rate

California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones adopted and issued a revised advisory pure premium rate, lowering the benchmark to $2.30 per $100 of payroll for workers’ compensation insurance. The change is effective July. This is a 10.5 percent reduction compared with …

Former California Claim Adjuster Pleads Guilty to Embezzling $289K

Elizabeth Louise Brown, 48, of Canyon Country, Calif., a former claims adjuster with Explorer Insurance, pleaded guilty to two counts of insurance fraud with a white collar crime enhancement penalty for crafting an elaborate scheme to defraud her employer of …