Latest Wave of Lawsuit Abuse Threatens Texas Homeowners’ Access to Insurance

(HOUSTON, TX) Texans for Lawsuit Reform issued the following statement today commending Lt. Governor Dan Patrick for his interim charge to the Business and Commerce Committee calling for the monitoring of the increasing number of hailstorm lawsuits following severe weather events and their impact on access to affordable homeowners’ insurance.  TLR President Richard J. Trabulsi, Jr., said:

“We applaud Lt. Governor Patrick’s continued leadership on the critical issue of hailstorm lawsuit abuse.  Across Texas today, storm-chasing trial lawyers are going from hailstorm to hailstorm, filing massive numbers of hail damage lawsuits in a radical departure from historical norms.  This will produce the same consumer “tort tax” imposed by every lawsuit abuse. The abusive, and often arguably fraudulent, hail lawsuits will inevitably result in higher deductibles and premiums and reduced or even lost coverage for property owners throughout Texas.

“We look forward to working with Lt. Governor Patrick and the Texas Legislature during the interim to ensure that Texas homeowners are able to protect themselves from property losses without the outsized and inappropriate attorney fees that result from abusive litigation.” 

Texans for Lawsuit Reform is the state’s largest civil justice reform organization.  TLR is a bipartisan, volunteer-led coalition with more than 18,000 supporters residing in 857 Texas communities and representing 1,266 different businesses, professions and trades. Visit TLR at www.tortreform.com. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter @lawsuitreform.