The California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (California JPIA) is excited to welcome Chris Kustra as its new liability program manager. With two decades of liability claims experience and 13 years of managing the Authority’s liability claims team at Carl Warren & Company, Kustra brings a deep knowledge of the California JPIA and its members to the role.
I’ve been very fortunate to work with the Authority for so many years,” Kustra said. “I look forward to this new role as an internal resource.
Kustra graduated from the University of California, Irvine in 2000 and started his career at Mercury Insurance, working his way into their litigation unit, handling auto and general liability claims. After a brief stint at a hedge fund, he joined Carl Warren in 2005 as a claims examiner. Over the course of the next two decades, Kustra progressively advanced within the organization, ultimately becoming the account manager for the California JPIA-dedicated liability claims team within Carl Warren.
As the account manager, he leveraged his technical knowledge of claims and litigation to present cases to the Executive Committee and represent the Authority during members’ council meetings.
Chris is very focused on successfully managing the Authority’s liability program,” said California JPIA Chief Operating Officer Paul Zeglovitch. “He was an integral part of the program’s success during his time at Carl Warren & Company, and we are confident he will take the program to the next level as liability program manager.”
His transition from Carl Warren to the California JPIA has been smooth, in part because Kustra continues to work with the same liability claims team he helped build at the company.
For Kustra, the most rewarding part of his work has been developing the people on the Authority-dedicated liability claims team. “Seeing the growth of the people that I’ve been able to bring to the team has been my favorite part of my career,” he said. “The Authority puts training at the forefront of their risk management programs, but you’ve got to have a highly trained third-party staff to deal with the claims as well.”
His approach emphasizes communication at every level. “I’m all about collaboration, whether it’s with the claims team, with the members, with the lawyers, or with the risk pool,” he said. “If we feel differently about the direction of a case, we’ll get on a call or a Zoom meeting and make sure we all land on the same page.”
Kustra also brings tactical expertise to his new role. He keeps his finger on the pulse of California’s liability landscape, tracking settlement trends, verdict amounts, and courts’ interpretation of the law. “I’m a very tough negotiator when it comes to the cases that we handle,” he said. “My goal is to keep funding in our member agencies and local communities.”
When Kustra saw an opening at the Authority that aligned with his skillset, he jumped at the opportunity. “Once you get a peek at what excellence really looks like and the ability to serve a range of California public agencies, that’s what you want,” he said. “The Authority staff is a stacked lineup—a bunch of people who are just pros. I’m glad that I’ve got a seat here, serving the members.”
Providing innovative risk management solutions for its public agency partners for more than 45 years, the California Joint Powers Insurance Authority (California JPIA) is one of the largest municipal self-insurance pools in the state, with more than 125 member cities and other governmental agencies. Members actively participate in shaping the organization to provide important coverage for their operations. The California JPIA provides innovative risk management solutions through a comprehensive portfolio of programs and services, including liability, workers’ compensation, pollution, property, and earthquake coverage, as well as extensive training and loss control services. For more information, please visit the California JPIA’s website at cjpia.org.