The message appears to be getting through to consumers: Excessive insurance litigation is not good for insurance costs.
According to a new survey from the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America (the Big I), 64.3% of those surveyed are worried that lawsuits increase their
premiums, and an even larger majority of consumers think the legal system is being used in ways that drive up insurance costs.
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“Consumers are absolutely correct. They are paying the price for unnecessary lawsuits in the form of higher insurance costs for their households,” said
Charles Symington, Big I president & CEO. “The survey makes it clear: Americans want reform and accountability
. Independent agents are working with their
customers so they further understand the impact of lawsuit abuse and how to advocate for reform.”
Nearly three-quarters of respondents from the mobile survey targeting consumers aged 25 and over who have hom
e, auto and/or business insurance, said attorneys and law firms benefit most from lawsuits.
Big I said it look as if many consumers remain unaware of the pr
actice of third-party litigation funding (TPLF). About 40% said they were not familiar at all with TPLF.
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89.7% say it’s important to reduce unnecessary lawsuits to help control insurance costs.
84.3% would supp
ort reforms if they knew certain legal practices were making their insurance more expensive.
A majority (54.8%) bel
ieve that the state and federal government should take the lead in addressing the issue, while many also pointed to insurance companies (33.6%) and courts (32.6%).
“Consumers overwhelmingly agree that unchecked litigation is not protecting them, it’s costing them. It dire
ctly affects their family budgets by adding thousands of dollars every year in unnecessary costs for their insur
ance and other products and services.” added Symington.
The combination of a benign period of catastrophe losses and strong results in the auto and homeowners
lines were key factors driving the result, the report said, also flagging a
new low level for the industrywide loss adjustment ratio.
Looking forward, they said that “slowing top-line growth, mixed macroeconomic prospects and the inevitability” tha
t the higher levels of catastrophe losses will return “create the pote
ntial that the third quarter’s result will stand for the foreseeable future as the best on record.”
While S&P GMI analysts derived most of the industry results in the report by aggregating individual company statutory reports filed with the National Ass
ociation of Insura
nce Commissioners (as of Nov. 19 for third-quarter 2025 and previously published aggregations for prio
r periods), they also tapped into public company historical results and analyst estimates to offer insights about catastrophe loss impacts on loss ratios.