NC Rate Bureau Requests Rate Increase In Mobile Home Insurance
The N.C. Rate Bureau filed a request Friday to increase homeowners' insurance rates for mobile home policies with the N.C. Department of Insurance.
It is the third insurance rate hike the bureau has made in the past two months to the N.C. Insurance Department, along with automotive and homeowner premiums increases.
The bureau is an independent group representing insurers writing policies in North Carolina. 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 wants an overall statewide average of 19 percent increase for mobile home casualty policies and an overall statewide average of 19.9 percent increase for mobile home fire policies.
If approved, it would go into effect Feb. 1, 2020.
Both programs provide property and liability coverage, as well as flood coverage.
The public can email comments to [email protected], or submit them in writing to Mary Sanders, administrative specialist, 1201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, N.C. 27699-1201. Both have to be submitted by March 20.
If insurance officials disagree with the rate hike percentage, they can either deny the request or negotiate with the bureau.
The insurance commissioner seldom agrees to the bureau's full request, but instead typically approves a lower increase, or sometimes a decrease, for each of the state's 29 territories as measured by risk.
If a settlement cannot be reached, Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey would call a hearing within 50 days of reaching the impasse.
On Feb. 7, Causey set a public hearing for Sept. 4 on the bureau's request, submitted Dec. 20, for a statewide average 17.4 percent in 2019-20 homeowners' insurance premiums.
"There is a pervasive lack of documentation, explanation and justification of both the data used, as well as the procedures and methodologies utilized in the filing," Causey said in his notice to the bureau. "The proposed rates appear to be excessive and unfairly discriminatory."
Causey approved an average increase of 4.8 percent increase for 2018-19. The rate bureau had asked for an 18.9 percent increase.
If the bureau's latest request is approved, insurance rates in Forsyth County would go up 20 percent for residential homeowners and 15 percent for owners of condominium units. Renters' insurance would increase 5 percent. If adopted, the changes would go into effect Oct. 1.
The proposed Forsyth increases also apply to Alamance, Caswell, Davie, Guilford, Rockingham, Stokes and Surry counties.
On Feb. 4, the bureau submitted a request for an average 7.6 percent increase in automotive insurance premiums.
In 2017, the bureau requested a 13.8 percent increase. Causey denied that request and negotiated a 2.2 percent increase for 2017 and 2018. The bureau agreed to not make a rate-increase request for 2018.
North Carolina is one of the least expensive states for car insurance.
In 2018, Business Insider, Forbes magazine and Insure.com said only nine states in the country had less expensive auto insurance than North Carolina.
[email protected] 336-727-7376 @rcraverWSJ
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