Plus, Commissioner Yaworsky on AI
Despite tort reform, Florida is back among the top five states for ‘nuclear verdicts,’ Citizens Property Insurance strikes a win on an interesting presuit notice lawsuit, workers’ comp rates are poised to fall yet again, Florida regulators change course on a proposed surplus lines rule, plus the fuss at the NAIC about AI use, and Florida Commissioner Yaworsky’s approach. It’s all in this week’s Property Insurance News.
Map showing concentrations of nuclear verdicts, 2009-2026. Source: Marathon Strategies
Nuclear Verdicts: The latest report from Marathon Strategies shows the number of ‘nuclear verdicts’ – those court cases with awards of $10 million or more – grew nearly 41% last year in the U.S. from the year prior. There were nearly 200 such verdicts totaling $25.6 billion, with 40 of them ‘thermonuclear’ ($100+ million) and four of those exceeding $1 billion. As a result of Florida’s 2023 insurance market reform, our state fell from #2 to #7 by the end of 2023; improved further to 10th place in the nation in 2024, but last year made the top five again – coming in fourth place ($2.5 billion), behind Georgia ($4.9 billion), Texas ($3.4 billion), and California ($2.6 billion). Maryland was fifth ($1.7 billion). “These developments suggest that while a state can change rules in the courtroom, the court of public opinion is another matter entirely,” Marathon said.
Citizens Win: Florida’s Second District Court of Appeal has ruled that “all” means all when it comes to filing a presuit notice before suing a property insurance company – each and every time and regardless of the reason. The homeowner and his attorney had tested the law by suing Citizens Property Insurance not for a monetary claim amount but for a simple ruling. The parties had already agreed on a binding appraisal award amount but the homeowners sued Citizens for “refusing to complete the appraisal process unless a release, masquerading as an appraisal form, is used,” contending the Citizens form added non-policy conditions. Although a trial court agreed, the 2nd DCA overturned the decision, pointing to the clear language in Florida Statutes section 627.70152. You can read more in Insurance Business Magazine.
Workers’ Compensation Rates: The National Council on Compensation Insurance (NCCI) which represents Florida’s workers’ comp carriers is recommending another rate cut, which if approved, would be the 10th consecutive year of rate decreases. NCCI indicates an average 7.4% decrease is in order beginning January 1, 2027, largely due to a reduction in the frequency of “lost-time claims,” filed when employees miss work because of injuries. In another piece of good news, the Department of Financial Services Division of Workers’ Compensation has finalized Rules 69L-7.730 and 69L-7.7.40 regarding medical billing and bill review. These implement the Publix Super Markets’ recent and long-sought victory before Florida’s First District Court of Appeal by removing language that insurance companies have to reimburse medications dispensed directly by doctors and other providers in workers’ comp cases. Effective this Wednesday (September 2, 2026) doctors must, as with all other patients, issue a prescription to be filled by a licensed pharmacy, saving the workers’ comp system millions of dollars from drug overpricing.
OIR Market Conduct Draft Rule: LMA has learned from a trusted source that the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation (OIR) will stand down for now its efforts to include surplus lines insurance companies to the entities required to file monthly Market Intelligence Reports. OIR apparently based its decision on industry feedback at a May 27 workshop we reported on that included an extrapolated total industry cost of compliance estimate of approximately $6 million to $7 million annually. In addition, OIR is circulating a new draft. Please contact us to discuss and provide feedback.
Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky at the Governor’s news conference, October 22, 2025. Courtesy, The Florida Channel
Artificial Intelligence Governance: This was a hot topic at the recent summer meeting of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC); specifically on consumers’ use of AI in filing complaints against carriers. Some feel the process is ripe for abuse and that strong controls are needed to counter bad actors wanting to maliciously run-up totals with fake submissions. In other news, the NAIC’s Innovation, Cybersecurity, and Technology (H) Committee, chaired by Florida Insurance Commissioner Michael Yaworsky, heard a presentation by Microsoft’s Jim DeMarco, who revealed that the insurance industry is second only to the tech sector in its use of AI.
Yaworsky has been a thought leader on this issue, insisting that companies writing in Florida that use AI prove they have proper controls in place, including human oversight of AI, especially in the claim approval and denial process. He sat down recently with Pete Crowe, President of FOCUS, the insurance business process outsourcing experts, for an extensive interview as part of the inaugural issue of FOCUS’ blockbuster 76-page 2026 Policy Makers Annual Report. Noting “the black box era is over,” Yaworsky told Crowe that he and his OIR team “we’re very AI forward. We just want it deployed responsibly.”
You can read more highlights of the interview in this Insurance Nerds article. The FOCUS report spans seven subject chapters and includes interviews with eight other leaders offering their insight on the dynamic forces at play today in the U.S property insurance market. They include another Florida star, Toni Logan, Senior Vice President at American Integrity Insurance, based in Tampa.
LMA Newsletter of 8-31-26
