Florida Tort, Insurance Reforms Are Working & Must Be Defended

The Sunshine State is subject to many storms. Hurricanes have been a big part of driving up home insurance costs, but a variety of unusual laws were also a major driver of high insurance costs in Florida. 

Before enacting a landmark tort reform package in 2023, Florida had an insurance cost crisis. Florida was home to an unbelievable 76% of all nationwide homeowners’ lawsuits in 2019. 

The state made up 99% of auto glass repair claims for State Farm, while having only 6.5% of the U.S. population. 

Following reform lawsuits “over auto glass repairs has dropped from 24,720 lawsuits in the second quarter of 2023 to 2,613 lawsuits in the same period of 2024.” 

Lawmakers also worked on emergency reforms to property insurance to stem the tide of private insurers leaving the state, passing legislation in 2022. The state’s insurer of last resort, Citizens, had been taking on more and more people as they could not obtain market insurance policies. This increased the risk posed to taxpayers. 

As a result of these reforms, in 2024, eight insurers entered the Florida market, and “the industry ended up posting an operating profit of more than $147 million in 2023, according to an analysis by S&P Global Market Intelligence.”

These reforms have been vital in moderating insurance costs that had been rising rapidly. 

These costs, particularly on the home insurance side, contribute to Floridians’ alarm about their property costs. Yes, rising property taxes are an issue, but the rising cost of homes and assessments are a part of a cost equation that also includes home insurance. Some families have foregone holding home insurance at all due to sky-high costs. 

Restoring a functional home insurance market has been critical to containing the cost of owning a home. 

It would be a total disaster to undermine these reforms – costs for every Floridian would go up and the property tax crisis would be made far worse. Any threat to tinker with or undo the 2022-23 tort and insurance reforms should be immediately rejected by Florida’s Republican supermajority.