‘Obfuscated’ Social Inflation Illuminated Again as Insurers Fight Back
“By contrast, defence attorneys who are both risk averse and keen to guard proprietary techniques, coupled with insurers bent on minimising legal costs, have put carriers on the backfoot, notes R Street Institute director Jerry Theodorou.
“Insurance is very siloed,” he says. “Claims managers are managing claims — they don’t have the time to be strategic and become evangelists — and defence firms are competing with each other. Changing the structure of the industry is not done easily….
“Whether such efforts will be enough to stem the tide — R Street’s Theodorou considers industry initiatives to be “drops” compared with the “rainfall” of plaintiff collaborative actions — what is clear is litigation threats, and with them social inflation drivers, are mounting. US trends are also spreading overseas.”
