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GEICO closes California offices, ends telephone sales here

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GEICO closes California offices, ends telephone sales here


GEICO, the nation’s second-largest auto insurer, is limiting its bodily presence in California and eliminating phone gross sales of latest insurance policies right here.

The corporate is closing 38 native workplaces within the state and shedding lots of of staff, in accordance with the Sacramento Bee and business commerce journals, and is pausing phone gross sales of latest insurance policies right here, though shoppers can nonetheless enroll on-line. Present insurance policies will stay in drive.

“We proceed to put in writing insurance policies in California, and we stay obtainable by means of our direct channels for the greater than 2.18 million California clients presently insured with us,” the corporate stated in an announcement to The Sacramento Bee.

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GEICO didn’t reply to Chronicle requests for remark, however the California Division of Insurance coverage confirmed that the insurer had closed its brick-and-mortar workplaces right here, a transfer that doesn’t require the division’s approval.

“GEICO is continuous to serve clients and promote insurance policies in California, however solely through on-line and its app,” the division stated in an announcement. “We’re monitoring this example carefully to verify shoppers proceed to be protected.”

GEICO’s web site gives a drop-down menu to seek out brokers by state. Choosing California returns no outcomes.

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Headquartered in Chevy Chase, Md., GEICO is owned by Warren Buffet’s Berkshire Hathaway.

Insurance coverage commerce publications reported that GEICO had additionally halted phone gross sales in 15 states, together with New Jersey, New York, Arizona and Wisconsin, plus the District of Columbia.

Janet Ruiz, a spokesman for the Insurance coverage Info Institute, a nonprofit commerce group, stated that limiting enterprise in a state is a standard means that insurance coverage corporations attempt to steadiness their threat. “It’s primary however you absorb a certain quantity of premiums and pay out a certain quantity of losses,” she stated.

The business contends that California’s insurance coverage charges — which have to be accepted by the Division of Insurance coverage — are too low. Commerce publications attributed GEICO’s California pull-back to its lack of ability to get permission to hike its insurance coverage charges right here.

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“The Division of Insurance coverage in California has artificially stored charges decrease than perhaps they need to,” Ruiz stated, arguing that inflation, provide chain points, rising reinsurance charges and elevated wildfire threat justify larger charges.

Client advocates had a unique take.

“Seems like GEICO is attempting to make use of its market energy to extort unjustified will increase in its insurance coverage charges,” stated Harvey Rosenfeld, founding father of Client Watchdog, a nonprofit that screens the insurance coverage business. “Clients of GEICO must be cautious of this habits and look for an organization not attempting to overcharge individuals for auto insurance coverage.

“Clearly GEICO’s not withdrawing from Califonia; no firm ever would as a result of it’s too profitable a market, the most important state within the nation for auto insurance coverage,” he stated.

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For as soon as, his phrases had been echoed by the insurance coverage business.

“Insurance coverage corporations need to keep in California; it’s a big financial system, they usually need to maintain their clients,” stated Ruiz from the business commerce group. “We positively need to maintain insuring individuals right here. That’s additionally why they work exhausting to steadiness their books of enterprise to allow them to maintain insuring the purchasers they’ve.”

Carolyn Stated is a San Francisco Chronicle workers author. E-mail: csaid@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @csaid

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom says state will provide rebates if Trump removes tax credit for electric vehicles

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California Gov. Gavin Newsom says state will provide rebates if Trump removes tax credit for electric vehicles


California Gov. Gavin Newsom said the state will provide rebates to residents if President-elect Donald Trump’s incoming administration does away with a federal tax credit for electric vehicles.

In a news release issued Monday, Newsom said he would restart the state’s Clean Vehicle Rebate Program, which provided financial incentives on more than 590,000 vehicles before it was phased out late 2023.

“We will intervene if the Trump Administration eliminates the federal tax credit, doubling down on our commitment to clean air and green jobs in California,” Newsom said. “We’re not turning back on a clean transportation future — we’re going to make it more affordable for people to drive vehicles that don’t pollute.”

The federal rebates on new and used electric vehicles were implemented in the Inflation Reduction Act that President Joe Biden signed into law in 2022. When Trump’s second term in office begins next year, he could work with Congress to change the rules around those rebates. Those potential changes could limit the federal rebates, including by reducing the amount of money available or limiting who is eligible.

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Limiting federal subsidies on electric vehicle purchases would hurt many American automakers, including Ford, General Motors and the EV startup Rivian. Tesla, which also builds its automobiles in the United States, would take a smaller hit since that company currently sells more EVs and has a higher profit margin than any other EV manufacturer.

Newsom also announced earlier this month that he will convene a special session “to protect California values,” including fundamental civil rights and reproductive rights, that he said “are under attack by this incoming administration.”

“Whether it be our fundamental civil rights, reproductive freedom, or climate action — we refuse to turn back the clock and allow our values and laws to be attacked,” Newsom said on X on Nov. 7.

A spokesperson for Trump did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This isn’t the first time California will be taking action against the Trump’s administration concerning clean transportation legislation.

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In 2019, California and 22 other states sued his administration for revoking its ability to set standards for greenhouse gas emission and fuel economy standards for vehicles, The Associated Press reported.

California sued the Trump administration over 100 times during his first term, primarily on matters including gun control, health care, education and immigration, the Los Angeles Times reported.



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45 Years Later, California Murder Mystery Solved Through DNA Evidence

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45 Years Later, California Murder Mystery Solved Through DNA Evidence


A 45-year-old cold case of a 17-year-old girl brutally raped and murdered has been resolved, bringing closure to the family. On February 9, 1979, Esther Gonzalez walked from her parents’ home to her sister’s in Banning, California, roughly 137 km east of Los Angeles. She never arrived. The next day, her body was discovered in a snowpack near a highway in Riverside County, California. Authorities determined she had been raped and bludgeoned to death, leading to an investigation that spanned decades.

The lab was able to match the DNA to a man named Lewis Randolph “Randy” Williamson, who died in 2014. Williamson, a US Marine Corps veteran, called authorities on the fateful day to report finding Ms Gonzalez’s body. At the time, he claimed he could not identify whether the body was male or female. Described as “argumentative” by deputies, Williamson was asked to take a polygraph test, which he passed, clearing him of suspicion in the pre-DNA era. He had faced assault allegations in the past but was never convicted of any violent crimes, according to the Los Angeles Times.

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Despite limited leads, the Riverside County cold case homicide team didn’t give up. A semen sample recovered from Ms Gonzalez’s body in 1979 was preserved but remained unmatched in the national Combined DNA Index System (CODIS) for decades.

In 2023, forensic technology finally caught up. The homicide team collaborated with a genetic lab in Texas that specialises in forensic genealogy. A sample of Williamson’s blood from his 2014 autopsy provided the DNA match needed to confirm him as the 17-year-old’s rapist and killer.

The Gonzalez family had mixed emotions—relief at finally having answers and sadness knowing Williamson would not face justice, as he died in Florida ten years ago. Ms Gonzalez, remembered by her family as a shy yet funny and mild-mannered young woman, was the fourth of seven children. Her oldest brother, Eddie Gonzalez, wrote on Facebook, “The Gonzalez family would like to thank the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department on a job well done. After 40 years, the Gonzalez family has closure.”

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“We are very happy that we finally have closure,” Ms Gonzalez’s sister, Elizabeth, 64, shared with CNN. “We are happy about it but, since the guy has died, a little sad that he won’t spend any time for her murder.”




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Bird Flu Virus Identified In Raw Milk Sold In California

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Bird Flu Virus Identified In Raw Milk Sold In California


The California Department of Public Health (CDPH) has detected the avian influenza or “bird flu” virus in a sample of a raw milk product. The product which was for sale at retailers at the time of the testing has now been recalled by the producer after the state of California requested it’s withdrawal from sale.

The affected product is cream top, whole raw milk produced and packaged by Raw Farm, LLC of Fresno County with lot code 2024110. The best buy date of the batch is 11. Nov, 2024 meaning consumers could still have it in their homes. No illnesses have currently been reported from this batch of milk, but people can take several days to develop bird flu after exposure. According to the World Health Organization, most people develop symptoms within 2-5 days, but can take up to 17 days to develop.

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According to the CDC, bird flu symptoms may include fever or feeling feverish or chills, eye redness or irritation, and respiratory symptoms, such as cough, sore throat, runny or stuffy nose, muscle or body aches, headaches, and tiredness.

Customers should not consume any product matching the description above and should return the product to stores or dispose of it. The CDPH is also in the process of informing re also in the process of informing retailers about the infected product to notify them to remove it from their shelves. The CDPH has since visited both locations of the company’s farms and has found no further evidence of bird flu. The CDPH will continue to test the farm’s milk twice a week.

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The CDPH stresses that there is no risk of consuming pasteurized milk as the milk is heated to temperatures which inactivate bacteria and viruses. However raw milk does not go through this process, meaning any bacteria or viruses in the milk can be transferred to the consumer. Public health departments, as well as the CDC have long warned against the dangers of consuming raw milk, which has been responsible for outbreaks of Listeria, E. coli, Campylobacter and Salmonella, among other microbes.

California has been hit with bird flu outbreaks in both dairy cow herds and poultry farms with over 400 dairy herds affected as of 22. November. Twenty-nine human cases have also been recorded in the state, mostly individuals who have had close contact with infected livestock. The numbers of infected individuals are likely to be under reported and very little is known about the severity of disease in humans so far. Just two days ago, the CDC confirmed a case of H5N1 bird flu in a child in California with no known contact with livestock.



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