According to CaseGlide’s February data from Florida’s largest P&C insurers, the number of new litigated claims dropped 11% from January 2022 figures, which was at a 37% increase over December figures.
February’s figure of 4,067 new litigated claims represents a decrease of 528 from January’s result of 4,595.
Of the 17 largest Florida insurers CaseGlide regularly monitor, all but one showed a month-over-month drop in February.
Fourteen insurers experienced a decline from January numbers of less than 25%, while two showed a 40% decrease.
The lone exception among the insurers that did not record a decrease had a 6% increase month-over-month.
It should be noted that one of the insurers that experienced a 40% month-over-month decrease became insolvent in February.
For Notices of Intent to Initiate Litigation (NOIs) received by the same insurers, February figures reflected an increase of 72 or 3%, to 2,740, up from January’s total of 2,668.
NOIs have increased steadily in the past eight months from 1,311 in July 2021 to 2,740 in February 2022. Combined new litigated cases and NOIs dropped 6% month-over-month from January’s figures.
For reinsurers, a big challenge in Florida is the abuse of assignment of benefits (AOB), which involves an agreement that transfers the rights and benefits to an insurance claim to a third-party.
The result has been inflated and fraudulent claims, which adds to loss costs for insurance companies.
AOB cases as a percentage of total new litigated cases in February increased to 34% from 31% in January. This is the third consecutive month where AOB cases represent more than 30% of new litigation, and February represents the highest percentage in well over 12 months.
Year to date, the top 10 AOB contractors in the state represent 31% of all AOB-related new litigated claims, with the top contractor responsible for 10%.
Wesley Todd, CEO of CaseGlide commented: “As stated last month, we’re still experiencing some monthly volatility with new litigated claims since SB76 went into effect in June 2021, and we continue to see NOIs increase steadily.
“In fact, the volume of NOIs in February is more than double the amount filed in July 2021, the first month they were put into use. Because of that, we still believe that Florida insurers’ litigation exposure is of concern.”
