Opinion: Stick with 2023 Lawsuit Reforms to Reduce Insurance Costs

By Jim Kallinger

Ever since the Covid crisis, Florida has been emerging as one of the economic leaders of the country.  Traditionally only thought of as a destination for tourists and retirees, Florida has benefitted from the relocations of some of the nation’s wealthiest billionaires and corporate leaders, attracted not just to our climate but also to our state’s favorable tax and regulatory policies.

There’s only one issue that has been a sticking point for everyone from working families to the most corporate elite: high insurance prices.  But on that issue, Florida now appears to be back in the national leadership position, with auto insurance and home insurance rates declining statewide for the first time in decades.  We are one of the few states where this is happening.  Why?

The Florida Chamber of Commerce and many business leaders I know point to the lawsuit reforms of 2023.  Governor Ron DeSantis, former Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and former Speaker of the House Paul Renner agreed that for too long, the billboard attorneys had been using statutory loopholes to make money from even the most frivolous lawsuits. 

It was relatively easy to do because insurers were being made to pay for the legal fees of those suing them.  Thus, the legal fees were gigantic every time even when settlements were comparatively small, and fairness was not a part of the system.  Florida had even landed on the Judicial Hellholes list, and every insurance customer in the state was paying higher premiums to account for the costs associated with a ballooning number of lawsuits and the legal fees accompanying them.

After the legal reforms of 2023, insurance rates did not go down immediately, but here on the cusp of entering the new year, they are dropping significantly, and all reports suggest that lower rates will continue to be a part of Florida’s economic narrative for the next several years.

There are still some things we can do to strengthen Florida’s insurance market.  First, we absolutely should not permit the reforms of 2023 to be repealed.  Second, we should look at some additional lawsuit reforms including reforming third party financing of lawsuits and doing something to limit nuclear verdicts.  We must also increase penalties for filing fraudulent claims.  Southeast Florida and Miami specifically have long been the nation’s capital for insurance fraud.  That impacts the entire market especially for those of us here on the west coast.

Let’s wish our legislative leaders well in the upcoming legislative session and urge them to maintain the reforms that are reducing insurance costs and making Florida more affordable.

Jim Kallinger is a former Florida State Rep and Chairman of the Small Business and Consumers Alliance.