North Carolina home insurance premium rates will increase to 15% by mid-2026
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — North Carolina homeowners insurance premiums will increase by about 15% by mid-2026, according to an agreement reached by the state insurance department and the industry.
The agreement announced on Friday A January 2024 proposal by state Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey at the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies, calls for an overall average increase of 42.2%.
Kosei, who started his third term earlier this month, He officially declined the request for office. last year. This led to a normal level The trial began in October And it involved several weeks of testimony, evidence, and arguments. The state insurance department said rates should be reduced or increased by less than 3 percent, as witnesses argue.
Except for the action, the hearing officer – in consultation with Casey – will decide what the new rates should be. The rate bureau could have appealed that decision in court.
Causey said in a news release that the proposed rate increase “is enough to ensure that insurance companies that have paid out large sums of money due to natural disasters and faced insurance costs due to national disasters have enough money to pay claims.” “
The bureau blamed high inflation — especially on building materials — combined with severe storms and “grossly inadequate” premiums to cover claims. The bureau’s requested increase varied from more than 4 percent in mountainous areas to more than 99 percent in some coastal areas.
The agreed increases, carried out in two parts, will be They vary according to the area. On average statewide, on June 1, the base rate will increase by 7.5% and on June 1, 2026 by another 7.5%.
Biggest increase in parts of North Carolina hit hard by Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and Hurricane Florence in 2018, Raleigh’s The News & Observer He reported. For example, coastal areas from Carteret to Brunswick counties will increase by an average of 16% by mid-2025 and an additional 15.9% by mid-2026.
Areas most affected by the floods in Heeren during the autumn expect a lower than average increase. Base prices in Buncombe, Watauga and Yancey counties will increase by 4.4% in 2025 and 4.5% in mid-2026.
Among the most populous areas, base prices in Raleigh and Durham will increase by an average of 7.5% in each of the next two years. In Charlotte, rates will increase by 9.3 percent in 2025 and 9.2 percent in 2026.
The settlement also prevents the rate bureau from continuing its efforts to raise rates before June 1, 2027, Causey’s release said.
