One way this plays out is larger jury awards, with a review by VerdictSearch showing a more than 300% increase in the frequency of verdicts of $20 million or more in 2019 when compared to the annual average from 2001 to 2010. (Credit: jansucko/iStockphoto)
Driven by a generation-long decay in public trust of corporations, social inflation trends are challenging to predict, largely because they are driven by "soft" social constructions, such as public perception of corporate behavior and changing demographics, especially with the increasing influence of social media.
"Social inflation" describes increased insurance losses resulting from the growing phenomena of for-profit litigation funders, higher jury awards, more generous workers' compensation claims, legislated compensation increases and new tort and negligence concepts. It is especially established in the U.S. but is increasing globally.
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