Insurance commissioner calls rate hikes excessive

TRIAD — The state insurance commissioner said no to a requested increase in homeowners insurance rates, setting up negotiations with the industry before a hearing this fall.

Rate increases are set by region, and rate increase requests varied. This time, proposed rate increases by the North Carolina Rate Bureau on behalf of the insurance companies writing policies in the state ranged from 4.3% in some of the mountain counties to 99.4% in some of the beach areas. The statewide average was 42%.

The rate increase request for Guilford County was 36.6%, and for Davidson and Randolph counties it was 25.2%.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, a Republican running for reelection this year, said in a prepared statement those were too high.

"Homeowners were shocked with the high amount requested by the insurance companies, and so was I," Causey said. "I haven't seen the evidence to justify such a drastic rate increase on North Carolina consumers."

Causey has set a hearing date for 10 a.m. Oct. 7. State law gives the insurance commissioner 45 days to issue an order once the hearing concludes.

The issue could end up before a judge, but it also could also be resolved — as it often is — if the two sides can reach a settlement on a smaller increase.

In 2021, insurance companies sought a 24.5% average increase in homeowners insurance rates. The final increase was an average of 7.9%.

The N.C. Rate Bureau is not a part of the Department of Insurance. It was created by the General Assembly in 1977. Any insurance companies writing homeowners' insurance or personal automobile insurance policies in North Carolina must be a member of the bureau.