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Auto injury claim payouts rose faster than medical inflation from 2017 to 2022
A study using data from 9 insurers found attorney involvement and litigation increased, lengthening claim timelines for represented drivers to nearly 440 days.
Auto bodily injury claim payments in the United States grew at more than double the rate of medical care inflation between 2017 and 2022, according to a newly released industry study from the Insurance Research Council, or IRC.
The IRC built its findings from its Auto Injury Claims Analytics Database, a pooled dataset contributed by nine insurers representing about 43% of the US private passenger auto market. The database covers more than 7.4 million auto injury claims closed with payment during the five-year window, allowing researchers to track claim level payments, medical bills, and legal involvement.
Average bodily injury claim payments rose from about $14,000 in 2017 to more than $20,000 in 2022, an annualized increase of 7.8%. The study also found that general damages are increasingly contributing to higher settlement values, with total settlement value rising relative to medical bills, from $1.80 per $1 of medical costs in 2017 to above $2.30 by 2022.
The report said attorney involvement and litigation increased over the period, with the share of claimants represented by an attorney rising from 40% in 2017 to nearly 50% in 2022, and litigation rates climbing from 10% to 18%. For bodily injury claimants, the median time to close for represented claims was nearly 440 days, more than twice as long as for unrepresented claimants, and represented claimants netted less per dollar of medical bills paid, $1.40 versus $1.80, the outlet said.