NC insurance official rejects mobile home rate hikes request NC Insurance commissioner rejects 49.9% hike in mobile home insurance rates

The state's Insurance commissioner denied Tuesday the N.C. Rate Bureau's request for a statewide average increase of 49.9% for mobile home casualty policies over a three-year period.

Commissioner Mike Causey also rejected an 82.9% statewide average rate increase for mobile home fire policies, also covering a three-year period.

The commissioner - whether a Democrat or Republican - seldom agrees to a rate hike anywhere close to the bureau's full request, whether regionally or statewide.

"We are not in agreement with the insurance companies' proposed increases," Causey said. "It is now necessary to hold a hearing to reach a resolution that will make the most financial sense for our residents and insurance companies."

Causey has set April 7, 2025, as the hearing date on the proposed increase.

The Rate Bureau is an independent group representing insurers writing policies in North Carolina. It submitted its rate hike requests on April 8.

It typically asks for rate increases - some substantially higher in areas prone to damage from natural disasters, such as hurricanes, floods and winter storms.

The bureau said a major factor in its sharp rate increase request is that North Carolina has experienced increased wind and hail losses stemming from damaging storms.

The fire rate increase request is 24.9% for 2024, 21.2% for 2025 and 20.9% for 2026. The casualty increase request is 15.9% for 2024, 13.9% for 2025 and 13.5% for 2026. The bureau requests that the increases take effect on Nov. 1 of each year.

Both mobile-home policies provide property and liability coverage and include flood coverage. The fire policy "provides coverage for a broader range of perils."

The last time the bureau requested rate increase for mobile home coverage was in 2022. A settlement yielded an average 10% casualty rate increase and an average 15% fire rate increase. Both increases went into effect Aug. 1, 2023.

The hearing will be held unless the Insurance Department and the bureau are able to negotiate a settlement.

State law gives the Insurance commissioner 45 days to issue an order once the hearing concludes.

Once the order is issued, the bureau has the right to appeal the decision, first to the N.C. Court of Appeal and then the N.C. Supreme Court.

In February, Causey rejected the bureau's 42.2% proposed hike in homeowners' insurance rates.

Causey called the bureau's overall proposed increase "excessive and unfairly discriminatory."

"Homeowners were shocked with the high amount requested by the insurance companies, and so was I," Causey said in February.

Causey has set a hearing for 10 a.m. Oct. 7 to address the bureau's request, which included an Aug. 1 effective date.

The rates typically are set by region, this time ranging from 4.3% in some of the mountain counties to 99.4% in some of the beach areas.

The bureau wants a 36.6% rate hike for homeowners in Winston-Salem and Greensboro, as well as in Alamance, Davie, Forsyth, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties.

It is by far the largest rate increase range sought by the bureau for the urban parts of the Triad since at least 2009.

The remaining requested increases are: 41.3% for Wilkes County; 25.2% for Davidson and Randolph counties; 22.3% for Yadkin County; and 20.5% for Alleghany, Ashe and Watauga counties.

"I haven't seen the evidence to justify such a drastic rate increase on North Carolina consumers," Causey said in a statement.

"The Department of Insurance has received more than 24,000 emailed comments on this proposal, with hundreds more policyholders commenting by mail. Scores more consumers spoke during a public comment forum.

"North Carolina consumers deserve a more thorough review of this proposal. I intend to make sure they get that review."

It's the seventh homeowners' rate increase requested by the bureau since 2009.

Causey, a Republican, is in his second term as commissioner. Causey won the Republican primary with 60.6% of the vote. He will face Sen. Natasha Marcus, D-Mecklenburg, in the November general election.

[email protected]@rcraverWSJ