Florida homeowners may be in for a massive increase in rates if one insurance company manages to get their rate increase request approved by the state.

Trusted Resource Underwriters Exchange, otherwise known as TRUE has asked state insurance regulators to allow them to increase homeowner rates by up by 31%. The rate increase would impact tens of thousands of homeowners.

Florida already has some of the highest insurance rates in the country, and homeowners could see a huge increase if the request is granted. TRUE is the first insurer in Florida asking for a rate increase this year that is large enough to require a hearing, other insurers have been requesting increases in the low single digits while some insurance companies have actually lowered their rates slightly over the last year.

TRUE, which is based in Tampa claims they actually need an increase that is roughly twice what they are asking the state to approve. They claim that last year's string of hurricanes, and the fact that they only write coverage in Florida which gives it little leeway to spread their risk are the main reasons they need to increase rates. The cost of reinsurance is also a major factor.

"Our analysis indicated support for a nearly 60% rate increase driven largely by hurricane and reinsurance costs," Anthony Scavongelli, the exchange's CEO said during a virtual hearing.

If the increase is approved, homeowners could see an average increase of $1,357 a year. Scavongelli warned that the increase was necessary for TRUE to stay in the Florida market which he called "a very difficult market, made worse by inflation and reinsurance costs."

The state insurance board will not make a decision until after the comment period closes on July 1, 2025.

According to state records, TRUE only has 20,000 policies in force in the state which ranks them about 50th in the state in terms of size. They started writing policies in Florida in 2021 and have had two management changes since their launch in 2021.

If an insurer requests a rate increase larger than 15% the Florida Office of Insurance Regulation holds rate hearings. While rate hearings were common back in 2021 and 2022 when the insurance market was on the verge of collapse, hearings have dropped off in recent years.

After changes were made to Florida law, rate increases have been much lower, and some insurers have even lowered rates slightly. According to a report from S&P Global which was issued in February, the average rate increase from the largest 10 insurers in Florida in 2024 was 1%.

Other insurers in the Sunshine State has last year's hurricane season was "manageable", which makes TRUEs rate increase request a bit of an outlier.

State officials have made no direct comments on the rate increase request. However, Daniel Zhong, who is an actuary with the regulatory office commented that a response to one of his questions to a company official was "not entirely correct."

Zhong also commented that TRUE had not made its state-required annual filings. Yanfei Atwell, who is TRUE's director of actuarial services, said the company expected to make more consistent and less substantial rate change requests going forward.

"The 31% rate change is major, is a catch up of the annual rate (filing) that we missed," Atwell said in a recent Gainesville Sun article. "So, on a going-forward basis, we're planning to be in compliance and following the annual filing, and it will not be such a huge rate increase. It will be much more moderate."

In addition, Susan Anderson, who is general counsel for TRUE, claimed the rate increase reflects the views of the new management team that was put in place last year. "The first rate filing by this management team is intended to take the rate necessary in order to continue to be a profitable company," Anderson said in the Gainesville Sun article.