National Report
Monday, March 10th, 2003 Auto Fraud Legislation & Regulation Liability PropertyIn 2001, tort costs increased 14.3 percent, the highest rate of growth in 15 years, according to a study recently released by Tillinghast-Towers Perrin. The growth in tort costs in 2001, which grew at a rate not seen since 1986, contrasted dramatically with figures from the decade 1991 to 2000, during which the average annual increase in tort system costs was 3.3 percent. The annual average for the second half of the 20th century was 9.7 percent. Asbestos claims and medical-malpractice lawsuits represent a large part of the recent increase, Tillinghast suggested. Since 1975, the first year in which medical malpractice costs were identified separately, those costs have risen an average of 11.6 percent a year, compared to the 9.4 percent annual growth in overall tort costs.
