By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

Ridesharing platforms like Uber are as vulnerable as other businesses to the cost impacts of legal system abuse – costs that inevitably are passed along to their customers. The company reported a more than 50 percent increase in its ride insurance costs per trip in recent years, despite also recording a lower rate of overall crashes from 2017 to 2022.

Passengers see these costs reflected in trip prices, with insurance accounting for roughly 10 percent of the average rider fare nationwide, or as high as 47 percent in costlier areas like Los Angeles County.

“Insurance for us is the second-highest operating cost after payment to drivers,” said Adam Blinick, Uber’s senior director of public policy and communications, in a recent Executive Exchange interview with Triple-I CEO Sean Kevelighan. “It’s been a bit of a calling card to get more aggressive on litigation and being public about where we see the abuse.”

Coordinated attorney outreach helps fuel the trend. Among motor accident victims surveyed by Protecting American Consumers Together, attorneys contacted 92 percent after their accident, including 57 percent who reported they were contacted by more than one. Solicitation typically occurred within a week of the incident, or “before insurance can play a part in addressing someone’s concerns,” Blinick noted.

“This creates more avenues to push people into these mills and artificially inflate the value of claims,” he said.

Third-party litigation funders play a major role in recruiting claimants. Though lack of transparency surrounding the market conceals its true size, a recent report from the National Insurance Crime Bureau and 4WARN estimates third-party funders spent more than $380 million on online search ads alone between June 2024 and June 2025, with some engaging in brand impersonation and search engine manipulation to mislead consumers and extend litigation.

Research from Triple-I and the Casualty Actuarial Society (CAS) estimates excessive litigation added $231.6 billion to $281.2 billion in liability insurance losses from 2015 to 2024, a finding that economic inflation alone cannot explain. A separate Triple-I report on civil case filings reinforces the finding, revealing approximately $42.8 billion in excess litigation value from motor vehicle tort cases filed between 2014 and 2023 in the federal and state civil courts.

“That’s a drop in the bucket to the reality of the problem,” Kevelighan said, “because less than 10 percent of cases had judgments. Others were settled and we can’t necessarily track the settlement data.”

Blinick discussed how uninsured and underinsured motorist (UM/UIM) insurance limits can also attract high claim volumes and disputes, particularly for the rideshare industry. Multiple states require ridesharing businesses to pay $1 million or more for such coverage, with limits in New York set at $1.25 million. Though intended to provide relief for policyholders hit by UM or UIM, these requirements mean bad actors stand to win more from claims, incentivizing excessive lawsuits and fraud.

Staged crashes generate many such claims, with some schemes involving a network of rideshare passengers who are “tied to the law firm, the medical providers, the body shops, the lenders themselves… all across the board,” Blinick said.

He added that many offenders “are the same ones who are doing slip and fall claims and mass tort suits against cities and counties. They’re not picky in terms of who they’re going after. They’re going wherever the opportunity presents itself.”

A 2025 California law that went into effect this year aims to help mitigate fraud by reducing the rideshare industry’s UM/UIM coverage limits from $1 million to $300,000 per accident. Uber has also submitted a November 2026 ballot measure that would cap contingency fees and limit medical damages in vehicle accident cases within the state, as well as shown support for New York’s 2027 budget proposals to combat fraud and unnecessary litigation.

Learn More:

Triple-I Legal System Abuse Awareness Campaign Enters California, Illinois

New York Among Least Affordable States for Auto Insurance

Claims Severity Drives Liability Insurance Losses

Revealing Hidden Cost to Consumers of Auto Litigation Inflation

Litigation Reform Works: Florida Auto Insurance Premium Rates Declining

New Consumer Guide Highlights Economic Impact of Legal System Abuse and Need for Reform

IRC Report Reveals One in Three Drivers Were Either Uninsured or Underinsured in 2023

By Lewis Nibbelin, Research Writer, Triple-I

New Yorkers pay the fourth-highest personal auto expenditures in the United States, costing households an average of $1,935 in 2024, or 2.23 percent of the state’s median household income, according to Triple-I’s latest Affordability Outlook.

Up from New York’s average of $1,753 in 2023, Triple-I’s estimates reflect the burgeoning toll of several expenditure cost drivers in the Empire State, many of which are structural factors beyond the insurance industry. Citing data from the Insurance Research Council (IRC) – like Triple-I, an affiliate of The Institutes – the report highlights four cost drivers that rank among the highest in the country, including:

• Repair costs: New York has the third-highest auto repairs costs in the United States, at $864 more than the national average;
• Carrier expense index: New York has the third-highest carrier expense index for personal auto insurance, at 14.9 percent of losses;
• Injury claim costs: New York has the third-highest average injury claim severity in the country, at more than twice the national average; and
• Accident frequency: New York has the eighth-highest average frequency of personal auto accidents in the nation, at 3.09 accidents.

While traffic density, road conditions, and driver education can contribute to accident frequency and severity, excessive and fraudulent claims litigation also fuel rising auto insurance premiums and overall costs in the state. Wiping out billions of dollars in U.S. economic activity annually, legal system abuse costs New York residents 427,794 jobs and $7,027 for each household per year, earning the state a recurring spot on the American Tort Reform Foundation’s list of “judicial hellholes.”

A surge in staged crashes underpins these figures, leaving drivers increasingly vulnerable to fraudulent damage or injury claims. Such incidents – totaling 1,729 in New York in 2023 – keep upward pressure on auto rates for all policyholders, inflating average auto premium by as much as $300 per year, Triple-I estimates.

To alleviate these cost burdens, a package of state budget proposals was recently unveiled to secure $2 million in funding for investigations into alleged auto fraud and introduce new regulations that extend the timeframe for carriers to report suspicious claims. Another law would cap pain and suffering damages awarded to drivers who engaged in criminal behavior, such as those who were uninsured at the time of the incident.

New York policymakers also passed legislation last month aimed at third-party litigation funding (TPLF), or funding from often anonymous investors who can delay prompt settlements in exchange for a share of larger damage awards, thereby propelling claims costs. Though falling short of mandating TPLF disclosure during litigation, the new law parallels effective tort reforms in other states, offering hope toward insurance market stability.

Homeowners insurance holds steady

Conversely, New York’s homeowners insurance premiums “are relatively average and reasonable as a percentage of household income,” contradicting “the narrative of an affordability crisis in New York’s homeowners insurance market,” said Patrick Schmid, Triple-I’s chief insurance officer, in written testimony to state lawmakers.

With a 2.11 percent ratio of homeowners insurance expenditure to median household income, New York ranks 29^th in an affordability study by the IRC, suggesting property and replacement costs contribute to the state’s housing affordability issues.

Policy interventions in insurance markets “would address a symptom rather than the cause” of such issues, Schmid stressed, urging lawmakers to focus instead on improving building material and labor costs; litigation trends; and other inflationary pressures.

While the specific policy levers may differ, Florida’s legal reforms in 2022 and 2023 led to 17 new insurance companies entering the state and rate reductions for dozens of homeowners and auto insurers, including a 6.5 percent average rate decrease for the state’s top five personal auto insurers in 2025.

Once a “poster child” for legal system abuse, Florida’s success demonstrates the need for continued reform in 2026 to promote a more competitive insurance market and greater affordability for consumers.

Learn More:

Triple-I Testifies on New York Insurance Affordability

Florida Governor Touts Auto Insurance Rebates, Tort Reform Success

Litigation Reform Works: Florida Auto Insurance Premium Rates Declining

Insurance Affordability, Availability Demand Collaboration, Innovation

Disasters, Litigation Reshape Homeowners’ Insurance Affordability