A decade-long rise in the number of auto accident lawsuits nationally cost nearly $43 billion in excess tort costs, a Triple-I study indicates. These findings help quantify the impact legal system abuse has had on both private passenger and commercial auto insurance inflation.
The study, Review of Motor Vehicle Tort Cases Across the Federal and State Civil Courts, reviewed lawsuits in both federal and state courts from 1994 to 2023. It focused on tort cases, which involve actions that caused harm to a person or property – like the injuries and damage as a result of an auto accident. Federal cases involving motor vehicle accidents rose 4.9% a year (compounded) from 2014 to 2023, following seven years of virtually flat growth. The frequency of motor vehicle tort case filings increased, even as accident rates generally declined. More than half of these cases (52.8%) were resolved through settlement, with just 7.4% resulting in a formal judgment.
“Increasing litigation in a period of decreasing accident claim frequency is an undeniable symptom of legal system abuse,” said William Nibbelin, Triple-I’s head of industry data and actuarial research.
Triple-I adjusted the federal filing trends by the percentage of settlements and favorable plaintiff verdicts. Our analysts multiplied the number of plaintiff wins by an estimate of the 10-year average dollar amount of settlements and jury awards, $674,000. The result: The additional filings generated $984.6 million in additional settlements and judgments, which Triple-I referred to as “excess value” plaintiffs extract from the legal system.
(As of June 16, 2026)
Click here to download full version of Legal System Abuse: State of the Risk.
