Navigation Partner of Traub Lieberman: HB 1551 will ‘increase the number of lawsuits’ and raise premiums
Ryan Jones, a partner at Traub Lieberman Straus & Shrewsberry LLP, said that a newly proposed insurance bill could result in more lawsuits and increased premiums for Florida homeowners. He made this statement during legislative testimony.
“Although it claims to institute a prevailing party fee provision, that’s not how it’s going to work in practice,” said Jones, Representative. “The bill looks at the $5,000 offer against the $5,000 verdict and changes the insured from the losing party to the prevailing party. That’s going to increase the number of lawsuits and the payments that insurance companies make to resolve them. When insurance companies pay out more money, they are going to raise the premiums, and every single Florida homeowner is going to pay for that.”
According to Insurance Business, Florida House Bill 1551 aims to reinstate a “prevailing party” standard for awarding attorney fees in insurance litigation. This bill seeks to replace the “one-way attorney fee” system that was eliminated in 2022. Under the proposed measure, either the insurer or the insured could recover attorney fees if they prevail and the judgment exceeds the opposing party’s highest written, good-faith settlement offer.
