By Lewis Nibbelin, Contributing Writer, Triple-I
Georgia – frequently featured on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s list of “Judicial Hellholes” – may want to consider imitating its neighbor Florida in pursuing legal system abuse reforms, Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan suggested in a recent interview for WBS News/Talk Radio.
In 2022 – the year Category 4 Hurricane Ian tore through the southeast United States – over 70 percent of all homeowners insurance litigation nationally was generated in Florida, when the state accounted for only about 9 percent of total homeowners claims.
“We actually saw six insurers go insolvent even before Ian hit,” Kevelighan said.
An exodus of insurance carriers, paired with an estimated $10 billion loss in post-Ian litigated claims, prompted Florida policymakers to enact laws targeting excessive one-way attorney fees and prohibiting assignment of benefits (AOB) to curtail gratuitous or fraudulent litigation.
Legal system abuse drives up costs for everyone
Such litigation increases the costs and time to settle insurance claims, which insurers must account for when predicting loss trends and setting rates.
“The price of insurance is the price of the risk,” Kevelighan explained. “If you have a high-litigation area, that’s risky, and it’s going to be more expensive.”
Costly, protracted claims disputes – especially ones involving unnecessary judicial intervention – can outprice consumers and insurers, leading many to cease offering coverage in the state or to declare insolvency.
Insurance costs in Florida have stabilized since legislators passed legal system abuse reforms in 2022 and 2023, reducing premium growth and attracting nine new property insurers to the market this year, Kevelighan said.
Under these reforms, “the risk level is getting lower and that allows the cost of insurance to go down,” he said. Underwriting losses in 2023 reflected this trend, as Florida’s property insurance market recorded a much smaller loss than in recent years. Most Florida carriers have filed for no rate increases – or even decreases – this year, Kevelighan said.
Though Hurricanes Helene and Milton will likely constrain Florida’s 2024 underwriting profitability, insurers are well-equipped to settle claims more quickly, with some industry experts suggesting the market could sufficiently cover another hurricane later this season.
Lessons for Georgia
Plaintiffs’ attorneys who profited from claim fraud in Florida have transferred their exploitative practices and billboard marketing to states with fewer and/or antiquated regulations – especially Georgia, recently ranked one of the least affordable states for auto insurance by the Insurance Research Council (IRC), a division of The Institutes.
“The litigation is just creeping across the border into Georgia,” he said. “It’s estimated that the GDP of legal system abuse impacts the economy about $13 billion annually in Georgia alone.”
In Georgia, Kevelighan said, unfettered anchoring tactics – which “anchor” juries to extraordinary non-economic damage awards as a baseline – propel Georgia’s abnormally high rate of excessive verdicts.
Profuse and inflated litigation impedes coverage affordability and availability and creates undue “tort taxes” that cost individual Georgians $1,372 per year, even as trial attorneys in the state invested hundreds of millions into advertising in 2023.
A new IRC survey supports a positive correlation between consumers who consult attorneys and those who are exposed to attorney advertising. Though most consumers believe this advertising increases the cost of auto insurance, most also remain impartial. Greater public outreach and tort reform are needed to stop and prevent legal system abuse.
While amending a court system hostile to defendants requires extensive coordinated efforts, Florida’s recent legislative reforms have already improved the state’s insurance landscape, demonstrating the efficacy of passing similar laws in other areas. To advocate for tort reform in Georgia, the Triple-I recently launched a multi-faceted campaign that includes highway and digital bus shelter billboards promoting an educational consumer website.
“We want to inform consumers that litigation doesn’t need to be a first step in claim disputes, but should be more of a last resort,” Kevelighan said. “We’re trying to help raise awareness so that reform does pass, and that we can reduce the risk level, so that we can reduce the price levels.”
Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp’s interest in addressing tort reform during the 2025 Georgia General Assembly promises “more movement,” Kevelighan added.
It’s not too late to register for Triple-I’s “Joint Industry Forum” in Miami November 19th and 20th, where legal system abuse will be a major topic of conversation.
Learn More:
Triple-I Launches Campaign to Highlight Challenges to Insurance Affordability in Georgia
Georgia Is Among the Least Affordable States for Auto Insurance
U.S. Consumers See Link Between Attorney Involvement in Claims and Higher Auto Insurance Costs: New IRC Report
