Mark Friedlander, communications director for the Insurance Information Institute, said that Florida's legal reforms have improved the property insurance market by reducing lawsuit filings by 35%, attracting billions in new capital, and setting the stage for lower reinsurance costs.
"Legislative reforms have vastly improved Florida's property insurance market," said Friedlander, Director of Communications. "They have led to a 35% year-over-year decline in property claim lawsuit filings, better loss ratios for insurers, a manageable 2024 hurricane season, billions in new capital, and a projected reduction in reinsurance costs for 2025 following flattened rates in 2024."
According to an Institute for Legal Reform report, Florida's recent legal reforms aimed at curbing lawsuit abuse and claim fraud are showing early signs of success. Key laws have eliminated one-way attorney fees, prohibited assignment of benefits (AOB), limited misleading legal ads, and introduced modified comparative fault. These measures have contributed to a 35% drop in property insurance lawsuits and improved insurer loss ratios. The reforms have stabilized the state's property insurance market and attracted billions in new capital. A bill targeting third-party litigation funding is continuing the state's momentum. Reversing these reforms would jeopardize market gains. Florida's success serves as a national model for legal reform that protects consumers and businesses while controlling insurance costs.
States across the U.S. are crafting tort reform legislation to address legal system abuse, which has driven massive increases in insurance claim costs over the past decade. Studies by the Insurance Information Institute (III) and the Casualty Actuarial Society estimate that such abuse—fueled by plaintiff advertising, erosion of damage caps, fraudulent litigation, and third-party litigation funding—has added billions in liability and auto insurance costs. Florida’s 2023 tort reforms are already credited with stabilizing rates and attracting insurers back to the state. New legislation seeks to further limit inflated medical damages in lawsuits, with similar reforms underway in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee.
A new Florida Chamber of Commerce poll indicates Gov. Ron DeSantis has a 54% approval rating while President Donald Trump holds 51%. Nearly half of Floridians (49%) believe the state is headed in the right direction; views on the country are evenly split at 48% right direction versus 48% wrong track. The poll also shows strong public support for the state’s 2023 tort reform laws, with only 15% saying they went too far and a plurality of voters favoring even stricter measures to prevent lawsuit abuse. Conducted May 2–10 by Cherry Communications, it surveyed 605 likely voters with a margin of error of four percentage points. These results underscore continued voter alignment with DeSantis’ reform agenda on legal and economic issues.
In a press release, Florida Justice Reform Institute President William Large said attempts by trial lawyers to roll back Gov. Ron DeSantis’ tort reforms were politically motivated efforts to discourage other states from adopting similar measures. The Florida Senate rejected trial lawyer-sponsored legislation to rollback the 2023 legal reforms; ultimately, the bill was withdrawn. DeSantis had vowed to veto any legislation undermining the 2022–2023 reforms credited with stabilizing Florida’s insurance market. Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky warned that proposed changes backed by trial lawyers would reverse progress by encouraging excessive litigation. Large said Florida’s 2023 tort reforms will continue serving as a national model.
Mark Friedlander is Director of Corporate Communications at the Insurance Information Institute (Triple-I), overseeing media relations and corporate initiatives particularly in Florida since joining Triple-I in 2019 as a Florida Communications Consultant before being appointed to his current role in 2020.