“Not Every Insurance Company is Bad…”

“Not every insurance company is bad.”

I often hear this in response to the examples I’ve given of insurance companies lowballing my clients. (See here and here for just a few of them.)

My examples are not isolated. They aren’t just one insurance carrier. These issues are systemic.

But I get it. Not every insurance company is as bad as some of the worst offenders that are out there. And even the ones that frequently behave badly still do the right thing sometimes.

But if every insurance company isn’t bad, doesn’t that also mean that not every injured person is looking to take advantage of the system? And that not every personal injury lawyer is a crook, either?

If we can agree on those points, then why are we talking about passing laws that will harm everyone?

Worse, the proposed laws in Governor Kemp’s tort legislation will have the most detrimental impact on people who have real, legitimate claims:

❌ Preventing people from arguing the “worth or monetary value” of non-economic damages prevents people with the worst losses from actually arguing to the jury about the value of their losses. For example, a widow would not be able to argue to the jury about the value of her husband’s life. A stay-at-home mom who is paralyzed because of a drunk driver couldn’t argue the value of her losses, and her husband and children wouldn’t be allowed to testify about the value of them either.

❌ Mandatory bifurcation of trials allows insurance companies to make trials more expensive and more difficult, giving them yet another arrow in their quiver to make the process as miserable as possible for injured Georgians.

❌ Preventing attorney’s fees in personal injury cases where the defendant acted in bad faith in harming the plaintiff allows the worst offenders to escape having to pay fees, even if they seriously injure or kill someone. And yet insurance companies and big businesses would still have the right to get attorney’s fees if somebody acted in bad faith in breaching a contract that caused them to suffer financial harm. In other words, kill somebody and you don’t have to pay fees, but cause a billion dollar company to lose some money and you may have to pay fees.

❌ Abolishing the collateral source rule harms people with health insurance who have paid significant money for their health insurance and creates two classes of injured people where one class–those without health insurance–get to recover more in damages.

❌ Making negligent security claims essentially impossible to prove allows out-of-state slum lords and private equity firms that run local apartment complexes into the ground with no regard to the safety of their residents to avoid any accountability.

These laws don’t create fairness. They don’t stop frivolous lawsuits. They rig the system for insurance companies, corporations, and negligent businesses at the direct expense of injured Georgians.

This isn’t just bad policy. It’s a direct insult—a giant middle finger—to every victim who’s been wronged and just wants their day in court.

What do you think? Join the conversation with me on LinkedIn.