Gov. Ron DeSantis announced that state regulators have collected nearly $1 billion in premium credits and rebates for Progressive auto insurance policyholders during a press conference in Sarasota this week.
The governor, joined by Florida Office of Insurance Regulation Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, credited the refund to cost savings achieved through state litigation reforms over the past several years. He also attributed the refund to declining litigation expenses in the state's auto insurance market.
Progressive is the second-largest auto insurer in the US, just behind State Farm. The refunds could bring $300 or more for Progressive policyholders in the state, depending on an individual's policy history.
"The savings that we've seen because of the litigation reforms now mean they are going to be giving you, and that may depend on how long you've been with Progressive," DeSantis explained. "You've been with Progressive a long time, you're going to get a bigger rebate, and it might be a check, it might be a credit on your bill, but the average across Florida policyholders is going to be a $300 rebate."
DeSantis added that he expects State Farm, as well as Liberty Mutual, to follow suit with similar refunds in the future. Overall, five auto insurance groups account for 78% of the Florida auto market.
"The top five auto writer insurance groups have averaged a 6.5% reduction in rates, and that includes Allstate, 7% decrease, Liberty Mutual, 5%, State Farm, 4.7%, but honestly, a lot of them are filing more and likely to go down even more," DeSantis specified.
The announcement comes after Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a sweeping tort reform bill into law, a series of legal reforms enacted in part to shift money from excessive litigation costs more toward Floridians.
Gov. DeSantis added that the reforms have also helped regulate the homeowner’s insurance market, which he says accounted for 8% of claims nationwide but an immense 78% of litigation costs.
Moreover, he pointed to positive trends in the market, despite the state's propensity to major hurricanes, in property claim decreases since the end of last year. Overall, DeSantis indicated the 30-day average for homeowner rates is down 1.3% and has fallen over 180 days.
"You know, a year ago, it was still going up; now it's down over the last six months all in, and it keeps getting more where they're doing more and more reductions," DeSantis said.
