September 03, 2025 1 min read

Consumer Federation of America Opposes Texas Bill That Would Harm Consumers' Ability to Hold Insurers Accountable in Court

CFA TC

In testimony before the Texas House of Representatives Judiciary & Civil Jurisprudence Committee, CFA's Director of Insurance Douglas Heller opposed HB 4806, a bill that would limit the recovery of damages in civil actions and make it harder for consumers to hold insurance companies accountable in court. This "tort reform" strengthens insurance companies at the expense of consumers and does nothing to bring down insurance costs.

In his testimony, Director Heller commented that "Texas policyholders need relief from high premiums. But tort reform never provides relief.  If it did, we wouldn’t keep coming back to hard markets and more calls for yet more tort reform. We have studied these insurance cycles for decades. Tort reform puts more money in insurers’ pockets, but it never takes less out of ours.

The better path toward relieving policyholders would be to demand accountability for these insurers so the price we pay for coverage reflects the risk associated with causing crashes or losing property, rather than letting insurers continue to raise rates however much they want while limiting our ability to make sure they pay a fair claim."

Related Articles

CFA TC
July 13, 2021 / Testimony & Comments
CFA Joins Coalition to Urge DOD to Delay and Change Interim Final Rule
CFA TC
January 28, 2010 / Reports
CFA's Director of Insurance with Americans for Insurance Reform on Insurer "Tort Cost" Report
CFA TC
January 28, 2010 / Press Releases
National Consumer Group Slams Insurer "Tort Cost" Report
CFA TC
July 31, 2002 / Testimony & Comments
Letter to President Bush on HHS Study of Medical Malpractice Insurance Rates