The changing civil litigation environment in Florida

Florida has long presented challenges for commercial casualty insurers in part because of uncertainty caused by the state’s civil litigation environment.

However, on 24 March, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed into law House Bill 837, a significant tort reform bill which is intended to address various civil litigation issues.

For instance, the new legislation now allows defendants to present evidence to juries of the actual amounts of asserted damages such as medical expenses.

The new law also eliminates Florida’s “pure comparative negligence” rule, which allowed a plaintiff a recovery even if they were primarily at fault for an accident or incident.

Under the modified comparative standard, “any party found to be greater than 50 percent at fault for his or her own harm may not recover any damages” except in certain limited circumstances.

The new law also reduces the statute of limitations in negligence cases from four years to two years.

For businesses that can often find themselves at the end of lawsuits, the reforms are welcome. The Associated Industries of Florida, praised the law’s passage, having felt that many businesses, from hotels to apartment complexes, from trucking firms to the entertainment industry, faced civil litigation challenges and uncertainties.

From a primary casualty insurance perspective, the new bill presents new opportunities to underwrite within the state.

E&S insurers like Axa XL are currently looking at the pragmatic implications of the new law on their business in the state. In response, we are re-evaluating our position and appetite for risk in Florida. We strive to identify opportunities to support our wholesale partners and offer commercial businesses more insurance options than may have been available to them in the past.