By Tom Gaitens
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 canceled, and others have been forced to move halfway back to where they came from. The larger cause is a ‘tort tax,’ which is the net result of the impact frivolous lawsuits 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 dragging upon our state economy for several years now. Our flawed civil justice system in Florida is generating an exorbitantly high cost for 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 Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater metro area checks in at nearly $1,324 per person. The Perryman Group’s calculations identify a loss of jobs, due to the tax, to be more than 30 thousand! This removes more than 2.5 billion in direct costs from the local economy while reducing the gross product by over 4 billion, all while robbing more than 2.5 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, one begins to see how this drags on the economy like riding your brakes while trying to accelerate.
Florida has lost more than 200,000 jobs and more than 23 billion as a result of the trial lobby abuses, which go unaddressed year after year. This cost reduces revenue to both local and state governments 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 due 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 a 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.
Tom Gaitens is the Executive Director of Floridians Against Lawsuit Abuse (FL CALA)
