Jeff Dunsavage is a senior research analyst at the Insurance Information Institute. In a recent I.I.I. blog post, he wrote that insurers can address social inflation by engaging in the public-policy debate to promote legislative changes that further level the playing field between plaintiffs and defendants; getting better at defending against aggressive and increasingly well-armed plaintiffs' attorneys; upgrading underwriting to reduce opportunities for claims surprises; and developing products with an eye toward mitigating social inflation. (Photo: Adobe Stock/NU Property & Casualty magazine) Jeff Dunsavage is a senior research analyst at the Insurance Information Institute. In a recent Triple-I blog post, he wrote that insurers could address social inflation by engaging in the public-policy debate to promote legislative changes that further level the playing field between plaintiffs and defendants; getting better at defending against aggressive and increasingly well-armed plaintiffs' attorneys; upgrading underwriting to reduce opportunities for claims surprises, and developing products with an eye toward mitigating social inflation. (Photo: Adobe Stock/NU Property & Casualty magazine)

Many policyholder attorneys believe that nuclear verdicts are a response to a crisis and therefore justify premium increases and more numerous policy exclusions.

Meanwhile, the insurance industry maintains that nuclear verdicts and social inflation, which Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett once described as "a broadening definition by society and juries of what is covered by insurance policies," pose tremendous issues.

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