Ron DeSantis, Governor of Florida, said that tort reforms are reducing frivolous lawsuits, leading to a 5% drop in auto insurance premiums and helping retain doctors. He warned that these benefits would be lost if the trial bar overturned the reforms.
"You would see doctors leaving the state….you would see auto insurance rates [rise]…we actually have so far in 2025 average of 5 percent decrease in auto insurance premiums amongst the major carriers," said DeSantis. "That's not happening, I think, anywhere else in the country. The only reason it's happening is because of the litigation reform, because the cost of a lot of the lawsuits where you sue first, ask questions later, that is no longer being incentivized in Florida. And so it has made this, you know, it's given consumers a break."
According to recent reports, Florida's property insurance market is showing signs of recovery due to significant legal reforms passed by the governor and Legislature since 2022. These reforms have led to rate stabilization, a surge in market participation by insurers—with 12 new companies entering—and the lowest average statewide homeowners insurance rate increase in the nation at just 1% in 2024. An American Property Casualty Insurance Association (APCIA) survey found that 77% of Floridians support these reforms. Auto insurance has also benefited, with major insurers filing for rate reductions and a sharp decline in litigation. Despite these positive trends, lawmakers entertain bills that could reverse progress by reintroducing litigation incentives like one-way attorney fees. Such moves risk returning Florida to years of instability driven by legal system abuse.
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, and similar reforms are underway in Georgia, South Carolina, Texas, Missouri, and Tennessee.
A new Florida Chamber of Commerce poll shows Gov. Ron DeSantis with a 54% approval rating and President Donald Trump with 51%. Nearly half of Floridians (49%) believe the state is headed in the right direction, while views on the country are evenly split at 48% right direction and 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. The poll was conducted May 2–10 by Cherry Communications among 605 likely voters with a margin of error of four percentage points. These results underscore continued voter alignment with DeSantis’ reform agenda, particularly 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, and the bill was ultimately withdrawn. DeSantis had also vowed to veto any legislation undermining the 2022–2023 reforms credited with stabilizing Florida’s insurance market. Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky warned that the trial lawyer-backed bill’s proposed changes would reverse progress by encouraging excessive litigation. Large said Florida’s 2023 tort reforms will continue to serve as a national model.
Ron DeSantis is a Yale and Harvard Law graduate who served as a U.S. Navy Judge Advocate General's Corps (JAG) officer in Iraq and at Guantanamo Bay, earning the Bronze Star. After his military service, he became a federal prosecutor and later a U.S. Congressman known for advocating term limits, government accountability, and military justice reform.