As Floridians grapple with the unprecedented cost of property insurance we risk losing focus on the root cause of the problem while spending too much time discussing symptoms. Yes, most of us have seen our rates skyrocket, some, like me, have had it cancelled and others have been forced to move half-way back to whence they came. The larger cause is a ‘tort tax’ which is the net result of impact frivolous lawsuit pose upon the whole of the economy.
The property insurance crisis is only one of the many impacts of the root cause which has been a drag upon our state economy for several years now. Our flawed civil justice system in Florida is generating an exorbitantly high cost upon nearly every transaction we make as Floridians. The ‘tort tax’ as we call it, according to the Perryman Group, reflects a hidden cost of goods, services and jobs of an estimated $1056 per person in the state.
Some communities it impacts at an even higher rate. For instance, the Miami-Fort Lauderdale-Pompano Beach metro area checks in at nearly $1378 per person. The Perryman Group’s calculations identify a loss of jobs, due to the tax, to be more than 36 thousand! This removes more than 5 billion in direct costs from the local economy while reducing the gross product by over 8 billion, all while robbing more than 5 billion in personal income.
When one considers the major metro areas inundation of ‘billboard attorneys' and their efforts to game and jam the civil justice system with frivolous lawsuits you begin to see how this drags against economy like riding your brake while trying to accelerate.
Florida has lost more than 200,000 jobs and more than 23 billion as a result of the trail lobby abuses which go unaddressed year after year. This cost reduces revenue to both local and state government by more than 1 billion each. Civil lawsuit abuse is not a victimless impact, it robs every Floridian and reduces revenues to our state and local government.
All major industries are impacted when real justice is slowed or delayed do to frivolous suits clogging the civil justice dockets. As individuals most Floridians have felt the pain of having to pay higher and higher rates on our property insurance despite never having had to file a claim. So while the symptom of property insurance rates is very visible, the broader impact of abuse in civil justice leaves an economic impact that is tantamount to each of us writing a $1000 check on January 1st, or $4000 for the family of 4.
The ’tort tax’ is not only real, it is very costly to individual Floridians and our economy. We all deserve a raise or at least some relief from the higher cost of living, and it could be stimulated if our political class directs their attention to the silent theft of civil justice abuses through frivolous lawsuits.
Gaitens is executive director of Floridians Against Lawsuit Abuse (FL CALA).