OUTER BANKS, N.C. — Homeowners in North Carolina are likely facing another insurance rate increase.
The North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represent property insurance companies in the state, is proposing an average rate increase of 42.2%.
While experts say that proposal will likely be negotiated down, it continues a trend of increased rates.
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“Well, I’m not happy about it. I’ve lived in my home almost 30 years, and I’ve never had a claim,” said Kim Lafountaine of Kill Devil Hills. “And of course, we’ve seen rates go up.”
The proposed increases vary by region:
- Beach areas of Currtiuck and Dare Counties - 45.1%.
- Coastal Currituck and Dare, including Roanoke Island – 33.9%
- Gates and Hertford - 30.4%
- Camden, Chowan, Pasquotank and Perquimans Counties – 25.6%
“The recent rate increases are as high as I’ve seen them in my career,” said Chip Phillips, owner of Island Insurance, an independent agency in Manteo. "I‘ve been doing this nearly 20 years."
He said there’s a range of factors likely behind the proposed rate increase. A series of recent natural disasters has led to higher costs for insurance companies.
“Reinsurance rates that the companies are having to pay on their books of business have gone up through the roof, causing their prices to be increased and passed on to the consumer," Phillips said. "So it’s more than just the hurricanes that everyone thinks of.”
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Greg Green with Village Realty in Nags Head and Atkinson Realty in Virginia Beach said it all threatens to hurt the housing market on the Outer Banks.
“You’re looking at people who are trying to move here, be teachers, and grow the community the way it is, and they’re trying to get affordable, and it’s just not affordable,” Green said.
The Outer Banks Association of Realtors is asking the public to urge state regulators to oppose the increase.
The increase is no sure thing—the proposal two years ago was negotiated down from an average of 24.5% to 7.9%.
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The North Carolina Department of Insurance is holding a public comment forum on the rate increase request on Monday in Raleigh. It will be held in the Jim Long Hearing Room at the Albemarle Building, 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, N.C. 27603.
There will also be a virtual comment forum that will be held simultaneously here.
Public comment can also be emailed until Feb. 2 to 2024Homeowners@ncdoi.gov.
The Department of Insurance would then have 50 days to deny the rates or negotiate with the North Carolina Rate Bureau. If a settlement cannot be reached in that time, the commissioner will call a hearing.
The Rate Bureau is asking the rates take effect on Aug. 1.
