The Insurance Issues Tyler Staggs Put on the Table
Insurance Rates, Delayed Claims, and the Myth of Strong Regulation
At a recent Oregon legislative hearing, Tyler Staggs delivered blunt testimony about how the insurance system actually works—and why many policyholders feel powerless when they file claims.
Tyler didn’t speak as a theorist. He spoke as someone who spent 20 years representing insurance companies before switching sides to represent insureds. His message was simple: what lawmakers are often told about insurance regulation does not match reality on the ground.
One of his primary targets was the industry’s frequent warning that consumer protections will automatically raise insurance rates. Tyler called this argument what it is: leverage.
Insurance companies are not just premium collectors. They are financial institutions. They invest premiums — what Warren Buffett famously calls “the float” — and profit the longer they hold onto that money.
Delayed claims are not accidents. They are economically advantageous.
Tyler also challenged the assumption that Oregon’s regulatory framework is a meaningful deterrent to bad behavior. Despite decades of handling insurance claims that went badly, he and his law partner Tom Spooner had never once encountered real enforcement by regulators.
Mediation, fines, restitution—those tools may exist on paper, but in practice, they are rarely felt by insurers.
Finally, he addressed litigation realities. Suing an insurance company is expensive, risky, and asymmetrical. Insurers hire multiple elite law firms. Plaintiff lawyers front the costs and only get paid if they win. Frivolous cases don’t survive that economic reality — especially under proposed legislation that includes reciprocal attorney-fee provisions.
Tyler’s bottom line was clear: rules aren’t about punishment.
They’re about behavior modification.
The goal isn’t more lawsuits.
The goal is fair treatment by insurance companies that makes lawsuits unnecessary.
If you’ve been mistreated by an insurance company, call us. Let’s talk about it.