A 70-Fold Increase in AOB Lawsuits Over One Decade
Assignment of benefits lawsuits in Florida rose from 405 filed across all 67 counties in 2006 to 28,200 by 2016, a roughly 70-fold increase over the decade, according to Florida Department of Financial Services data reported by the state’s Office of Insurance Regulation. An assignment of benefits arrangement lets a contractor bill an insurer directly by having a homeowner sign over their claim rights, and in Florida specifically, that mechanism became the engine behind a litigation explosion serious enough to force a legislative response.
That response came in 2019. Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7065 into law on May 23, 2019, effective July 1, 2019, specifically to address AOB misuse. The Office of Insurance Regulation issued a follow-up data call in 2020 to evaluate the reform’s preliminary impact, though the numerical results of that specific evaluation were not published in what this research could locate.
The Reform Arc Ended in an Outright Ban
The 2019 law was not the final word. Florida ultimately banned AOBs outright for both residential and commercial property policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023, codified at Fla. Stat. Section 627.7152. That is a materially stronger step than the 2019 reform, which restricted and regulated AOB practices without eliminating the mechanism entirely, and it marks the endpoint of a legislative arc that started with a 70-fold lawsuit increase state data can actually document.
What is not established is whether the 2019 reform itself measurably reduced lawsuit volume before the 2023 ban arrived. The state ran an evaluation, but this research could not locate its published numerical findings, which means the honest answer to did the 2019 law work is that Florida moved on to a full ban either way, not that the reform’s own effect was independently confirmed.
The Numbers
AOB lawsuits filed across all 67 Florida counties rose from 405 in 2006 to 28,200 by 2016, a roughly 70-fold increase over the decade.
Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, citing Florida DFS data
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis signed House Bill 7065 into law on May 23, 2019, effective July 1, 2019, specifically to address AOB misuse.
AOBs are banned outright for residential and commercial property policies issued or renewed on or after January 1, 2023 (HB 7065, codified at Fla. Stat. Section 627.7152).
Sources
The external data in this article draws on the sources below. Figures described in the text as estimates or industry triangulations are directional and are not attributed to a single dataset.
- Florida Office of Insurance Regulation, Assignment of Benefits Resources
- Brelly, Florida contractor assignment of benefits overview