A recently passed ban on assignment of benefits (AOB) in Florida property insurance litigation has caused the number of “intentions to litigate” to plummet by more than 50%, from 8,345 in March of last year to 4,064 in November of last year, a new study concludes.

Florida TaxWatch released its study of the state’s property insurance market on July 11, charting sharp changes in property insurance trends that led to a 42.5% rise in property insurance rates since 2019. Legal reforms passed by the Legislature in recent years seem to be producing more stability in the market, according to the report, but more needs to be done to help policyholders in the state, who pay the highest average premiums in the United States.

The money spent on the legal defense and cost containment of insurance claims in 2023, as a share of premium costs, was 3.1%, which represents the smallest ratio since 2019, the TaxWatch report states. But Florida legal costs related to property insurance remain above the national average, the study says.