American tort costs reached $579.7 billion in 2023, nearly double the $299.7 billion recorded in 2014, according to a report published by the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform (ILR) in collaboration with Triple-I in June 2026. Over that nine-year period, tort costs grew at an annualized rate of 10.38%, roughly twice the rate of nominal GDP growth (5.17%) and nearly four times inflation (2.74%).
The figures arrive as brokers placing commercial casualty business are navigating one of the most bifurcated market conditions in years. Commercial lines accounted for $377.7 billion of the total tort costs in 2023, compared with $202 billion for personal lines. Within commercial, other liability and commercial auto together represented the largest share of the burden. Both lines have been under sustained rate pressure throughout 2026.
The two largest single categories in the study were other liability at $249.3 billion (66% of commercial tort costs) and personal auto liability at $188.1 billion, together accounting for nearly three-quarters of the national total. Both are lines where casualty rates have resisted the broader market softening throughout 2026.
Umbrella and excess liability remained the highest-increasing lines in the US commercial market through the first half of 2026, according to WTW’s Commercial Lines Insurance Pricing Survey, while commercial auto, though easing from its prior trajectory, remained under sustained loss-cost pressure. Social inflation, nuclear verdicts, and third-party litigation funding are the primary drivers the market has attributed to that divergence.
The Triple-I/ILR report uses the term “legal system abuse” to characterize the drivers of rising costs. That framing reflects the advocacy position of ILR, which campaigns for litigation reform. The underlying data, drawn from National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) statutory insurance figures and OECD statistics, is independent. The 2023 US figures represent projections based on available data rather than final audited results.
Beyond the US figures, the UK trajectory is harder to ignore for brokers with international or London market exposure. British tort costs as a share of GDP more than doubled from 0.57% in 2014 to 1.22% in 2023, growing at an average annual rate of nearly 13%, faster than any other jurisdiction in the study, according to the ILR report.
On current trends, the report projects US and UK tort costs as a share of GDP will converge by 2029-2030, with the UK potentially surpassing the US shortly after. The driver is a combination of opt-out collective action mechanisms introduced under the Consumer Rights Act of 2015 and a third-party litigation funding market the report estimates at up to £4.5 billion. Social inflation pressures that have defined the US casualty market are showing early signs of a global contagion effect, with the UK among the most exposed jurisdictions outside North America.
Canada, the only jurisdiction in the study to record declining tort costs over the period, provides a counter-example. Ontario’s overhaul of its class action regime in 2020, through the Smarter and Stronger Justice Act, introduced stricter certification standards and tighter oversight of litigation funding. Canadian tort costs increased by just 0.08% cumulatively between 2014 and 2023.
“Litigation is outgrowing the economy,” said Michel Léonard, chief economist at Triple-I. “That gap doesn’t stay in the courtroom. It lands in claims, reserves and premiums.”
Sean Kevelighan, CEO of Triple-I, added that the costs ultimately reach businesses and consumers, making transparency in the legal system a prerequisite for insurance affordability. Both quotes reflect the institutional positions of their organizations.
The full report, produced in collaboration between Triple-I and ILR, covers the US, UK, the five largest EU economies (Germany, France, Italy, Spain, and the Netherlands), Australia, and Canada for the period 2014 to 2023. Nuclear verdicts and rising social inflation are identified as structural rather than cyclical pressures, a view consistent with what liability underwriters and casualty-focused brokers have described across the 2025-2026 renewal cycle.
