Financial Corp., The Largest Issuer Of Commercial Auto Policies In Ohio Already Has Paid Over $40 Million To Cover Claims Allowed By These Court Rulings To Cincinnati Personal Injury Lawyer

Ohio Chamber’s Position: The Ohio Chamber of Commerce applauds Sen. Scott Nein’s introduction of SB 97 and is in support of this bill. This important measure would create a common sense remedy for the above Ohio Supreme Court decisions that have drastically impacted Ohio’s business and insurance markets through costly, never-before contemplated expansions of the state’s uninsured and underinsured laws.

Taking into account that personal injury trial lawyers get at least one-third of a settlement, these two rulings have created at least a half-billion dollar windfall for members of the Ohio Academy of Trial Lawyers who oppose SB 97.

Ohio’s reputation for having a healthy, available and affordable insurance marketplace has been greatly undermined by these Court decisions. Recent studies show that between 1994 and 1998 Ohio’s liability insurance premiums rose 10.1% compared to the national average of 1.4%. And the worst indication of the havoc these decisions will wreak on the insurance marketplace is yet to come.

Cincinnati Financial Corp., the largest issuer of commercial auto policies in Ohio already has paid over $40 million to cover claims allowed by these Court rulings. The company recently estimated the rulings will cost up to $100 million in unexpected claims. In total these decisions could result in insurance companies paying out more than $1.5 billion, driving premium increases through the roof. Many companies have already received renewal notices with 50 to 100 percent increases in the cost of uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage.

These Supreme Court rulings and their devastating effect on the Ohio insurance marketplace, are adding to Ohio’s unenviable reputation as a state with an unpredictable business climate caused by a Supreme Court majority that consistently exceeds its constitutional authority. When introducing SB 97, Sen. Nein pointed out that if this series of rulings by Justices Resnick, Douglas, Pfeifer and Sweeney were a natural disaster in terms of insured losses, they would constitute the costliest catastrophe in the world during the year 2000.