Florida moves to tackle insurance lawsuit abuse

The National Insurance Crime Bureau (NICB) has applauded the Florida House Judiciary Committee and the Senate Committee on Banking & Insurance for passing two significant bills aimed at reducing insurance lawsuit abuse.

House Bill 837 and Senate Bill 236, supported by Governor Ron DeSantis, Senate President Kathleen Passidomo, and House Speaker Paul Renner, seek to establish reforms that will eliminate one-way attorney fees, limit injury and insurance litigation, modernize bad faith laws, stop inflated jury awards, and reveal the true cost of medical care provided to injured people.

A press release from NICB called the bills “meaningful” lawsuit abuse reform legislation and said they will go a long way to “stabilizing Florida’s insurance market.”

“Insurance fraud and abuse is rampant in the state of Florida, costing homeowners and insurance carriers billions of dollars each year,” said NICB president and CEO David J. Glawe. “We thank the bill sponsors for advocating on behalf of Florida’s consumers and for working together to stabilize the Florida insurance market and address the decades-long fraud and abuse that has plagued the state. NICB fully supports this legislation.”

“House Bill 837 and Senate Bill 236 will bring much-needed reform to Florida’s lawsuit abuse climate,” added Rich DiZinno, NICB vice president – strategy, policy, and government affairs. “We look forward to seeing these bills advance through the legislature and bring relief to Floridians who have been stuck with skyrocketing insurance premiums and other rising costs.”

Senate Bill 236 will move on to be considered by the Senate Judiciary and Senate Fiscal Policy Committees, while House Bill 837 will move on to the House Floor for a vote.

In 2022, Florida passed legislation aimed at tackling spiralling property insurance costs and market exits by scrapping one-way attorney fees and ending the assignment of benefits, among other changes.

Ratings agency Demotech recently issued a release that said these reforms have “refined” Florida’s property insurance market for the better.