Getting to Know: Sean Kevelighan

 More Than a Mouthpiece

Kevelighan says Triple-I delivers objective, data-driven insights to inform and empower consumers and the industry on topical insurance and risk management issues in the form of research and economic forecasts. Perhaps more importantly, though, it has earned credibility with major national and regional news outlets by being a go-to source on critical issues of public interest involving insurance, helping the industry’s voice be heard. 

“I had the potential to help change the perception of insurance and convey just how much the industry does for economic growth and sustainability.”

Kevelighan, on why he jumped at the opportunity to lead Triple-I back in 2016.

Litigation Trends to Watch

When it comes to claims litigation, Kevelighan says Triple-I is focused on several trends revolving around legal system abuse. These include the proliferation of class-action suits and other lawyer- and government-driven actions (“runaway litigation”); growing awards from sympathetic juries, referred to as nuclear verdicts; litigation funding, in which investors finance lawsuits against large companies in return for a share in the settlement; and rollbacks of tort reforms that were intended to control insurer costs.

“[Legal system abuse] led to a $30 billion increase in U.S. commercial auto liability claim costs above and beyond what would otherwise have been anticipated between 2012 and 2021.”

Kevelighan, citing recent research conducted by Triple-I and the Casualty Actuarial Society that was released in March 2023.

Sunny News in Florida

Kevelighan says Triple-I spearheaded a proactive digital campaign in Florida to educate consumers and policymakers about a sweeping tort reform bill that was recently signed into law following quick passage by the state’s legislature. The elimination of one-way attorney’s fees and assignment of benefits for property insurance should help stabilize a residential insurance market that experienced seven insurer insolvencies in just the past year. 

“I love being outside, and at my ‘peak’ I even finished Ironman Switzerland.”

Kevelighan, who says he still enjoys the great outdoors after 10 years of marriage and three kids, albeit at a lesser intensity and with his family beside him.