North Carolina Approves 7% Home Insurance Rate Increase

North Carolina is allowing companies to raise homeowners’ insurance rates by a statewide average of seven percent a year starting in July.

Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin agreed to the increase for less than the 17.7 percent the North Carolina Rate Bureau requested last October. Goodwin said two weeks before the November election in which he was re-elected that companies would have to justify their request, which insurers had wanted to take effect in June.

“Homeowners’ insurance is a very complex issue. We face a great challenge in making sure that it is not only affordable, but available, to consumers across the state,” Goodwin said in a statement. “I feel this settlement helps strike that balance, and I am pleased that the increase will be significantly smaller than what insurers originally requested.”

The last homeowner’s insurance rate increase, for four percent, took effect in 2009.

Home insurance rates this year will be allowed to increase by as little as 1 percent in Winston-Salem and Greensboro. Charlotte homeowners could see their costs climb by 8.4 percent, raising the premium on a $150,000 frame home by $45 to $574 for a yearly policy. Durham and Raleigh rates would be allowed to climb by 2.8 percent, pushing premiums to $682 for a $150,000 home.

But homes along the beach in Brunswick, Carteret, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties could be hit by a premium of as much 19.8 percent. Beach homes in Currituck, Dare and Hyde counties could see a 17 percent rate increase.