Study: Connecticut Ranks Sixth for Tort Costs

Connecticut households shoulder some of the costliest litigation bills in the country according to a new study.

The state ranked sixth nationwide in tort costs per household in 2025 based on a study released by the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform. 

The report, Tort Costs in America, Fourth Edition: An Empirical Analysis of Costs and Compensation of the U.S. Tort System, defines tort costs as “judgements and settlements, the legal and administrative costs of resolving claims, and the cost of transferring liability risk to insurers.”

Its estimates rest primarily on liability insurance premiums, supplemented by estimates of self-insured exposures. 

The burden varies widely by state. Households in Maine and West Virginia paid less than $3,000 in 2025, while those in Delaware and New York paid more than $7,000.

Nationally, total tort costs have grown an average of 7.8% a year, outpacing both nominal gross domestic product growth of 6.3% and inflation of 3.9%. 

Tort Reform

Within the Northeast, Connecticut ranks third highest among the six New England states, New York, and New Jersey.

Connecticut pays more than $9 million yearly in total tort-related costs—2.4% of the state’s GDP—with the annual cost per household at $6,197.

The ranking comes with consumers already contending with rising prices for goods, energy, food, and insurance.

Higher litigation costs feed directly into the insurance premiums needed to pay for them. 

Other states have shown that targeted changes can ease that burden.

The Connecticut General Assembly should follow their lead and take up meaningful tort reform in the 2027 legislative session, focusing on medical damage awards, trial procedures, attorneys’ fees and the regulation of third-party litigation funding.

Lawmakers who say they want to lower costs for Connecticut families and employers have a clear place to start. 

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For more information, contact CBIA’s James Rocco.