In an effort to curb rising home insurance costs, Florida lawmakers passed reforms aimed at reducing what they called excessive litigation against insurance companies. The goal was to discourage frivolous lawsuits and stabilize a volatile insurance market. However, some legislators admitted they lacked comprehensive data when crafting and approving the changes.

Following a surge in property insurance premiums and the collapse of several insurers in 2022, state leaders pointed to lawsuits as a key driver of the crisis.

“Somehow you have like one shingle off the roof and then some lawyer comes in and there’s a big lawsuit,” Governor Ron DeSantis said at the time.

“We are just a factory of litigation in the state of Florida, and we have got to change this culture,” added then-Chief Financial Officer Jimmy Patronis, who now serves in Congress.

The legislative reforms shifted the legal landscape significantly. One major change: homeowners can no longer recover attorney fees, even if they win disputes with insurers. Supporters say this discourages opportunistic litigation, but critics argue it makes it harder for homeowners to fight for legitimate claims.

“It can prevent the insured from repairing the damage like they need to,” said attorney Donnie Worrell.

During debate over the reforms, lawmakers focused on a striking statistic: Florida represented about 8% of homeowners’ insurance claims nationwide, but accounted for 78% of the related litigation. That figure came from former state insurance commissioner David Altmaier and an industry group he led. However, much of the underlying data is confidential and excludes certain markets.

Birny Birnbaum, a former insurance regulator and consumer advocate, questioned the reliability of the statistic.

“There certainly was more litigation among certain companies in Florida than in other states, but over half the companies had little or no litigation,” said Birnbaum, now head of the Center for Economic Justice. “That tells you it’s not an industry-wide problem.”

Three years after the reforms, state officials point to early signs of progress. Some homeowners are seeing insurance rates level off or even decrease, and new insurance companies are entering the Florida market. Supporters say those developments suggest the reforms are beginning to work.

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