Feedback session set for Monday on NC home insurance rate hike plan of 42.2%

The 42.2 percent is just an average -- much higher rates of 99.4 percent are proposed at beaches and 57 percent in inland areas such as Wilson and Edgecombe counties.

RELATED: Click here for list of rate hikes sought by firms in counties and towns in North Carolina.

So far, the feedback the North Carolina Insurance Commissioner has heard is that people can't afford such an increase.

"Not one person has said, "Raise my rates,'" Mike Causey said just days after the plan was released by the North Carolina Rate Bureau. "These people are telling me that they're struggling."

RELATED: Click here for list of rate hikes sought by firms in counties and towns in North Carolina.

Causey pointed out that in 2020 the North Carolina Rate Bureau asked for a nearly 25 percent increase and ended up with just under 8 percent.

The Outer Banks Association of Realtors has come out against the plan -- arguing it's much too expensive for working folks at the coast.

"We're looking at people that are teachers, EMS, these are people that are in the trade service industry. You know, people have this illusion that the Outer Banks is just, you know big huge oceanfront vacation homes and that's not the case," Willo Kelly, a North Carolina real estate agent said last week.

RELATED: Click here for list of rate hikes sought by firms in counties and towns in North Carolina.

A public comment period is required by law to give the public time to address the proposed 42.2 percent rate increase.

All public comments will be shared with the North Carolina Rate Bureau.

If North Carolina Department of Insurance officials do not agree with the requested rates, the rates will either be denied or negotiated with the North Carolina Rate Bureau. If a settlement cannot be reached within 50 days, Department of Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey will call for a hearing. The rate increase could go into effect starting on Aug. 1

RELATED: Click here for list of rate hikes sought by firms in counties and towns in North Carolina.

Below are the ways to provide public comments in-person or virtually on Monday:

* A public comment forum will be held to listen to public input on the North Carolina Rate Bureau's rate increase request at the North Carolina Department of Insurance's Jim Long Hearing Room on Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The Jim Long Hearing Room is in the Albemarle Building, 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603.

* A virtual public comment forum will be held simultaneously with the in-person forum on Jan. 22 from 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. The link to this virtual forum will be: https://ncgov.webex.com/ncgov/j.php?MTID=mb3fe10c8f69bbedd2aaece485915db7e

There are also other ways to provide feedback:

* Emailed public comments should be sent by Feb. 2 to an email at [email protected]

* Written public comments must be received by Kimberly W. Pearce, Paralegal III, by Feb. 2 and addressed to 1201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1201.