Liability risk trends - Social inflation

Social inflation is a phenomenon especially prevalent in the US, driven by the growing emergence of litigation funders, higher jury awards, more liberal workers’ compensation claims, as well as new negligence concepts. This dynamic becomes apparent when reviewing the top 50 US verdicts from 2014 to 2018, the median settlement amount nearly doubled from $28mn to $54mn.

In our latest podcast, Larry Crotser, Regional Head of Key Case Management, North America, further explains what social inflation is as it relates to commercial insurance and why this trend is increasing in the US and abroad.  He also addresses how it has become a major narrative in courtrooms and why American juries are more likely to award claimants by triggering the “reptilian brain.”