North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has issued the following statement in response to recent media reports on the status of insurance rate filings:
“I wish to clear up any confusion regarding recent rate filings from the N.C. Rate Bureau.
“As the Insurance Commissioner, it is my job to protect consumers by keeping rates as low as possible and maintaining a solvent insurance market.
“In July of 2023, the North Carolina Rate Bureau requested a 50.6% combined statewide increase for dwelling insurance rates. Since that time, my office has carefully reviewed that request through actuarial and legal experts. I ultimately recommended a combined 8% statewide increase, which the Rate Bureau agreed to in a settlement. This saved North Carolina consumers $151.7 million per year compared to what the Rate Bureau requested, and allows North Carolina’s insurance market to remain stable and solvent.
“Dwelling insurance is different from homeowners’ insurance. Dwelling policies typically cover residences of no more than four units that are not the property owner’s primary residence or that are non-owner-occupied residences.
“During the past 20 years, there have been eight dwelling and fire rate filings. Only one went to a hearing. Settling and not going to court saves consumers and taxpayers money. Hearings are the exception when negotiations fail.
“As is the case with every property rate filing that the Department of Insurance receives from the N.C. Rate Bureau, there is always a period of a public comment, as required by law. This feedback that we receive is not the same thing as a costly public hearing. The public hearing is a legal proceeding during which both the Rate Bureau and the Department of Insurance present arguments and evidence for or against a filing.
“Separately from the dwelling settlement, NCDOI continues to review the data provided by the Rate Bureau concerning the recent homeowners’ filing and may request more data from it so that we can ensure consumers are paying a fair rate while also ensuring a solvent insurance market. The homeowners hearing is currently scheduled for Oct. 7.”