Regulator seizes Superior National

The California Insurance Department has taken control of the Calabasas-based Superior National Insurance Group – the largest workers’ compensation insurer ever to be taken over by the state. The department’s move followed a deterioration of the financial condition of the company in 1999 due to a large shortfall in its reserves. Insurance regulator Chuck Quackenbush said the company was reopening for business under state management and that insured benefits would not be interrupted. He also said potential buyers had already shown interest in the company.