With Dwindling Litigation, GEICO Says it Doesn’t Need 114 Legal Staffers in Florida

With less claims litigation following Florida’s 2022 insurance reform legislation, GEICO says it doesn’t need so many legal staffers, and plans to layoff 114 remote employees who report to its Lakeland, Florida, office. “The Company expects that employment separations will begin on or about December 31, 2026. The affected employment losses are expected to occur in stages, with the final separations expected to occur on or about April 30, 2027,” GEICO’s assistant general counsel wrote in a notice provided to the Florida Department of Commerce. The notice did not give a reason for the layoffs. But the local newspaper, The Lakeland Ledger, reported that a spokesman for the insurance giant said the Florida legislation had significantly reduced litigation. “As that litigation has declined, we have adjusted our staff counsel operations accordingly, with a focus on identifying potential opportunities for our people across the company,” Ross Feinstein, in GEICO’s external communications, told the Ledger. The company did not indicate how many laid off employees are lawyers It’s the latest impact from the 2022 and 2023 statutory changes, which have been credited with disincentivizing excessive claims lawsuits by ending one-way attorney fees and assignments-of-benefits agreements. Multiple property insurers have reported rate reductions in the last two years and more than 20 new carriers have entered the Florida market. GEICO, a Berkshire Hathaway company, in March announced auto insurance rate reductions for some 2 million policyholders in Florida. Nationally, GEICO reported an increase in losses and underwriting expenses for the third quarter of this year. Another auto insurer, AAA, part of the Auto Club Group, announced Nov. 11 that it is lowering average auto rates by 10% for its Florida Select Auto and Select Package Auto products. “Improving conditions in Florida’s insurance market have helped make these reductions possible,” AAA said in a statement. “Legal reforms enacted in late 2022 and 2023 have helped stabilize claims costs and create a more predictable claims environment, allowing AAA to pass savings along to policyholders.” Topics Lawsuits Florida Was this article valuable? Thank you! Please tell us what we can do to improve this article. Thank you! % of people found this article valuable. Please tell us what you liked about it. Here are more articles you may enjoy.