Florida Assignment of Benefits Ban Curbs Lawsuits
December 9, 2024 by Abby Bowman
abowman@glass.com
Florida auto glass lawsuits have dropped substantially since the passage of legislation banning the assignment of benefits (AOB) in 2023. About 83% fewer cases have hit the courts in 2024 than in 2023, according to state data shared by the insurance lobbying group called Florida Justice Reform Institute (FJRI).
Attorney Ashley Kalifeh, who monitors court statistics on behalf of FJRI, told the recent Florida Chamber of Commerce Annual Insurance Summit that around 10,000 auto glass lawsuits have been filed so far in 2024. She said the final number from 2023 was about 60,000.
One reason for the notable decrease is that the number of auto glass suits in 2023 was unusually high. The Washington Post reports that in 2021 and 2022 there were 25,414 and 34,320 windshield lawsuits in Florida, respectively. The new legislation caused the initial spike, Kalifeh explained.
“The tort bill, House Bill 837, had language in it that said it doesn’t become effective on policies until they’re renewed or reissued,” Kalifeh told the Florida Record in 2023. “Even though the bill was effective March 24, all policies issued after that date have to be renewed or reissued for the law to be applied to them.”
In an effort to curb lawsuits, Florida passed the AOB legislation in 2023, banning auto glass companies from offering “items of value” to customers in exchange for insurance claims. That law has been in effect for long enough that the trend has now swung the other way, Kalifeh told the insurance summit.
Kalifeh said some Florida lawyers specializing in auto glass suits have dropped that field since there are so few cases. According to the Washington Post, as of 2023, about 96% of auto glass lawsuits had been filed by the same 20 lawyers.
2014 is the most recent year with a comparable number of cases to 2024. About 10,225 auto glass lawsuits were filed that year.
https://glassbytes.com/2024/12/florida-assignment-of-benefits-ban-curbs-lawsuits/
