Below is a slightly edited announcement from the town manager of Pine Knoll Shores.
It applies to ALL NC coastal property owners. Please see if you can attend.
Please also pass this on to other NC coastal property owners you know.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
As many of you have heard, coastal insurance rates are being targeted for another major increase. The message below my signature block provides detail.
You may contact the NC Insurance Commissioner to voice your opposition (which was effective in preventing a much more substantial increase just last year). The blue/bold text below tells you how to do this.
Next week an organization called NC-20 is holding a symposium in Morehead City that addresses a number of issues significant to coastal NC. NC-20 is an organization that advocates for many coastal groups on legislative/policy issues such as stormwater management, sea-level rise, and the fight that occurs almost annually over insurance rate increases.
I have found NC-20 to be the best source of information for the lay-person (i.e., not in the insurance industry) to understand these complex issues.
Note that the symposium costs $35 (which includes lunch), and that other important coastal issues besides the insurance rate increase will be covered.
Brian Kramer
Town Manager
Pine Knoll Shores, NC
OCTOBER 5, 2012
Higher Property Insurance Rates Proposed
The NC Rate Bureau submitted a Homeowners Insurance Rate Filing with the NC Department of Insurance on Monday, October 1st. The filing represents an average 17.7% increase statewide in property insurance rates.
NC DOI has 50 days to respond to the filing – either approve, call for Public Hearing or negotiate rates with the NC Rate Bureau – just as former NC Insurance Commissioner Jim Long did for years. If NC DOI agrees with this Rate Filing, the below filed rates will go into effect June 1, 2013.
Legislation passed earlier this year mandates that the Commissioner call a public comment period on any NC Rate Bureau property insurance rate filing within 30 days of the filing. The NC Department of Insurance has scheduled a public comment session on Wednesday, October 17th from 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jim Long Hearing Room of the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St. in Raleigh. Written public comments should be mailed to NCDOI, Attention: Bob Mack, Property & Casualty Division, 1201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1201; or emailed to 2012homeowners@ncdoi.gov. The deadline for submitting comments is Friday, October 19th.
Rate Filing Details:
The 1,267 page 2012 Homeowners Insurance Rate Filing represents a 30% rate increase for Homeowners Insurance in all 18 eastern NC counties that are in the NCIUA (Beach Plan) coverage area.
The rate is the maximum approved amount from NCDOI that a company may charge for coverage unless a policyholder signs a “consent to rate” form allowing an insurance company to charge a higher rate.
The 2012 Rate Filing differs from the last Homeowners Insurance Rate Filing of 2008 in that proposed rates are based on $75,000 of coverage instead of $150,000 of coverage. The Rate Filing also includes proposed rate increases of 30% statewide for renters coverage and a 30% increase in condo coverage for the majority of the state.
Here is the specific breakdown of proposed rates for Eastern NC:
Territory 7 – Currituck, Dare and Hyde – Barrier Islands
Homeowners Current rate per $75,00 of coverage: $1,379 – Filed: $1,793 ; an increase of $414
Territory 8 – Brunswick, Carteret, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender – Coastal Areas
Homeowners Current rate per $75,000 of coverage: $1,522 – Filed: $1,979; an increase of $457 (30%)
Territory 48 – Currituck, Dare, Hyde, Pamlico – mainland areas
Homeowners Current rate per $75,000 of coverage: $987 – Filed: $1,283; an increase of $296
Homeowners Current rate per $75,000 of coverage: $862 – Filed: $1,121; an increase of $259
Territory 52 – Brunswick, Carteret, New Hanover, Onslow, Pender – mainland areas
Homeowners Current rate per $75,000 of coverage: $1050 – Filed: $1,365; an increase of $315
Many eastern NC counties were hit with double-digit increases when new rates went into effect in May 1, 2009. Those rates were negotiated with the NC Rate Bureau by former Insurance Commissioner Jim Long within two weeks of the rate filing. A public comment period was not held on that filing. A legal challenge mounted against NCDOI regarding how the rates were established but the NC Court of Appeals ruled that the NC Insurance Commissioner’s decision on a rate filing cannot be challenged by the public or any local government entity. The ruling stated that only the parties involved in the rate making process – NCDOI or the NC Rate Bureau – could legally challenge a rate filing.
Research from the 2008 NC Rate Bureau Rate Filing uncovered the little known fact that 32 NC Counties and the City of Charlotte are currently paying equal or less in Homeowners Insurance “rate” than they did in 1993. The rate in place in 1993 for the City of Charlotte was $351 per $75,000 of coverage. The current rate for Charlotte is $344. The NC Rate Bureau is requesting a rate increase of 8.5% for the Charlotte territory. This proposed increase would essentially add only $29 in premium for $75,000 of coverage. The lowest requested rate increase in the 2012 Homeowners Insurance Rate Filing is 1.2% for the Winston-Salem/Greensboro territory. This increase represents a rate change from $365 to $369 for $75,000 worth of coverage – a $4 difference.
This is the first homeowners insurance rate filing to be reviewed by current NC Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin. A Dwelling Rate Filing was submitted in 2011 and, although not legislatively mandated to do so, Goodwin held a public comment period on the filing and subsequently called for a Public Hearing – the first on a property insurance rate filing in 18 years. After the lengthy public hearing trial-like process, Goodwin ultimately denied proposed extended coverage (wind and hail) increases and approved fire coverage decreases statewide for dwelling policies. Dwelling policies typically cover non owner-occupied homes such as year-round rental homes and vacation rental homes.
The October 1, 2012 Rate Filing can be found in its entirety here:
