Consumer Choice Center says Floridians are reaping ‘tort reform’ benefits

Consumer advocacy group and think tank Consumer Choice Center says the benefits of 2023’s major tort law rewrite have started reaching everyday Floridians.

A policy primer published by the organization says HB 837 — a marquee bill of the 2023 Session — has proved “worthwhile,” citing “steady insurance rates, transparency in medical costs at trial, reduced litigation, and spurred innovation and competition.”

The legislation, backed by insurers and the business lobby, made sweeping changes to laws governing how lawsuits are filed and litigated in Florida. Backers long pointed to litigation costs as the primary driver for rising insurance premiums. Before the legislation was enacted, the Florida Chamber of Commerce said Floridians were paying a $5,000-per-year “tort tax,” by way of higher prices and premiums.

The Consumer Choice Center’s primer adheres to similar logic.

“The rising cost of litigation is something that impacts every consumer or customer, whether they know it or not. The reforms ushered in by HB 837 in 2023 have gone a long way to undo Florida’s reputation as a litigious hotspot and make the civil justice system more accountable for small businesses and the consumers that rely on them,” said Yaël Ossowski, Deputy Director at the Consumer Choice Center and co-author of the report.

“The significant cost inflation that weaves its way into our courts via exaggerated liability claims harms consumers and deprives those who are legitimately injured from seeking justice. Florida lawmakers should continue to support these reforms and ensure that consumers can remain protected while also benefiting from a less costly and inflationary legal system imposed on entrepreneurs and innovators.”

Tentpole provisions of the bill included near-total elimination of the long-standing statute that allowed a policyholder who successfully sued their insurance company to recoup their attorneys fees, as well as a bad-faith rule adjustment shielding insurance companies from lawsuits if, before a complaint is filed or within 90 days of being notified of the complaint, they tendered the lesser of the policy limits or the amount demanded by the claimant.

Secondarily, HB 837 modified the state’s comparative negligence statute to block plaintiffs found to be more than 50% responsible for their own injury from receiving compensatory damages.

While “tort reform” was the shorthand parlance among backers, opponents cast it as an anti-consumer regression, saying the limits it placed on Floridians’ ability to seek legitimate legal recourse were too severe and that it would pave the way for bad actors to mistreat consumers with some degree of impunity.

Lawmakers have been relitigated these arguments in multiple bills over past two years, and the Consumer Choice Center is focusing on some of those filed for the 2025 Session, such as HB 947 and SB 1520, which rewrites requirements on what evidence is admissible in trials to determine the values of rendered but unpaid medical treatments, as well as future medical bills or services in a personal injury or wrongful death suit.