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California

San Francisco Health Fee to Rise

Employers with workers in San Francisco must pay more next year to comply with the city’s health care spending law. Beginning on Jan. 1, 2012, employers with 100 or more employees in San Francisco will be required to spend $2.20 per hour per covered employee on health care, up from $2.06 in 2011. Employers with 20 through 99 employees will have to spend at least $1.46 per hour, up from $1.37, city officials announced last week. Employers with fewer than 20 employees are exempt from the requirement, which uses the funds generated to provide medical services to the uninsured. Premiums,… Read More »San Francisco Health Fee to Rise

California Right to Sue Insurers

An uptick in consumer protection lawsuits against California insurance companies is widely expected in the wake of a state appellate decision allowing a policyholder to sue The Progressive Group of Insurance Companies over alleged unfair claims practices.

Lights Out – State Fund is Coming

alifornia State Compensation Insurance Fund is pursuing legislation to allow it to offer coverage to California employers who have out of state employees. Currently, California-based businesses insured with State fund must obtain a separate workers’ compensation policy to cover employees who work out of state. State Fund hopes to amend the California insurance code to allow it to offer workers’ comp insurance that will cover a California employer’s out of state employees, instead of having to work with two or more insurance companies. “In speaking with brokers across the state, we have clearly heard that this would benefit them by… Read More »Lights Out – State Fund is Coming

Persistency Discount on Auto Insurance

The American Agents Alliance announced it has submitted for title and summary an automobile insurance discount initiative that would allow consumers to receive a discount for having continuous automobile insurance, regardless of the insurance company with whom the are insured. Presently, the law allows only the company where you are already insured to offer a “persistency” discount. The Agents’ Alliance’s initiative is similar to Proposition 17, which lost by 2 percentage points in the 2010 election, in allowing consumers to take their “persistency” discount with them and shop for better coverage and lower rates with other insurers. “The way the law… Read More »Persistency Discount on Auto Insurance

Crash Tax Approved in Riverside County

The Riverside County, Calif., Board of Supervisors has voted 4 – 0 to charge at-fault drivers in auto accidents a fee for emergency response services. The ordinance backed by the Riverside County Fire Department and Office of Emergency Services, and approved by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors, will charge the at-fault driver a flat fee of 13 percent of the cost for emergency response. It is unclear if the county will utilize a vendor to collect these fees. “Crash tax” ordinances and costs charged in other communities vary, with fees ranging  from $100 to more than $2,000 for response… Read More »Crash Tax Approved in Riverside County

Make Sure to Insure Your Cargo in California

Very surprising news we got today from the Golden State:  California led the nation in cargo thefts last year, with 247 of 747 thefts in the U.S. that were estimated at $171 million, according to a report released last week by the National Insurance Crime Bureau. Texas was the next most-targeted state for cargo thefts, with 91 in 2010. There also were 66 in Florida, 56 in Illinois, 40 in Tennessee and 39 in Georgia, according to the Des Plaines, Ill.-based NICB’s ForeCAST Report.  Electronics were most often the target of cargo theft, with 139 incidents. There were 108 cases… Read More »Make Sure to Insure Your Cargo in California

Travelers Expands Coverage for Healthcare Organizations

Travelers has unveiled new property coverages through its IndustryEdge product for healthcare organizations. New coverages include: Ordinance or Law – Communicable Disease Contamination Coverage – This coverage pays the costs incurred to clean up and remove communicable disease contamination from a premise when mandated by an ordinance or law. Condemnation of Medical Property – This coverage pays for loss of visibly undamaged medical property that a government regulatory authority has condemned as a direct result of a covered cause of loss. Unintentional Errors or Omissions – Failure to Report Locations – This coverage is extended when the insured unintentionally fails to… Read More »Travelers Expands Coverage for Healthcare Organizations

Record Losses from Weather

Devastating tornadoes, floods, earthquakes overseas and a busier-than-usual hurricane season have U.S. insurance companies bracing for record losses in 2011. Globally — including the major earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan — U.S. and overseas insurers could post up to $55 billion in losses, EQECAT projects. In the United States, billions of dollars in damage were the result of a rare violent weather hitting densely populated areas. Paperless advise: Check your insurance for the following coverage 1. Drain back up 2. Debris Removal 3. Flood 4.  Consequentual loss 5.  Loss of business income 6. Exterior Sign Coverage 7. Earth movement… Read More »Record Losses from Weather

California workers comp rates won’t go up

How much do you pay for your Workers Comp insurance? How high did you rates go up for the past 2 years? Well, may be we’ve got a break, as the Workers’ Compensation Insurance Rating Bureau of California’s Governing Committee has decided, again, not to make a mid-year rate filing. Rates won’t go down, rated won’t go up. At its April 6, 2011 meeting, the WCIRB Governing Committee directed the WCIRB to submit to the California Department of Insurance (CDI) an informational analysis of insurer experience as of Dec. 31, 2010 in lieu of a mid-year advisory pure premium rate… Read More »California workers comp rates won’t go up

California, are Workers’ Comp Rates Too High?

Most of us would probably answer “yes” to that question. But it might help to put things in perspective by pointing out that the average rate per $100 of payroll has fallen from $6.11 in 2004 to $2.44 in 2010: Meanwhile, claims costs have increased 50% in that same period: Another summary shows the statewide insurer combined ratio year by year. You can see that the ratios have risen sharply in each of the past four years, reaching levels of significant unprofitability in 2008 and 2009 (the most recent years available): Industry combined ratios are revealing unsustainable trends. Combined ratios climbed… Read More »California, are Workers’ Comp Rates Too High?