Public Comment Accepted Through January 31
The North Carolina Department of Insurance received a homeowners insurance rate filing from the N.C. Rate Bureau in the late afternoon of Friday, Jan. 3. The N.C. Rate Bureau, which is not part of the Department of Insurance and represents all companies writing homeowners insurance in the state, has requested a statewide average rate increase of 25.3 percent, varying by territory, with a requested effective date of Aug. 1, 2014.
The requested rate changes range from -2.7 percent to +35 percent. The insurance companies have also requested revisions to the current geographic rating territories.
The filing will be reviewed by Department of Insurance experts to determine what, if any, rate adjustments are warranted. If NCDOI and the N.C. Rate Bureau do not initially agree on the proposed rate changes, Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin will call for a public hearing in which both parties would present their cases for or against rate adjustments.
The filing is available for public review on the Department of Insurance website. To view the entire filing, go to http://pserff.ncdoi.net/pc.html and enter the Serff Tracking Number NCRI-129361028.
Opportunity for Public Comment
For people who would like to weigh in on the rate requests in person, there will be a public comment session on Friday, Jan. 24, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. in the Jim Long Hearing Room of the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.
Written public comments will be accepted from Jan. 3 through Jan. 31. Written comments should be mailed to: NCDOI, Attn: Bob Mack, Property & Casualty Division, 1201 Mail Service Center, Raleigh, NC 27699-1201; or emailed to 2014homeowners@ncdoi.gov.
Click on the links below for additional information on the following:
- Video of the Jan. 9 presentation by Willo Kelly hosted by Dare County League of Women Voters, click here.
- Presentation slides regarding the rate request click here.
- Talking points from NC-20, a coalition of North Carolina’s 20 coastal counties click here.
- Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin’s statement on Homeowners Insurance Rate Request, click here.
- Helpful links from NC-20 click here.
Also, more on the Biggert-Waters Flood Insurance Reform Act of 2012 (14) is outlined below thanks to Maureen O’Shea, AICP, CFM, NFIP Planner for the NC Department of Public Safety www.ncdps.gov:
- BW-12 Brochure for property owners
- BW-12 What to Know & Say for agents, but useful for others
- BW-12 Quick Reference Guide for agents, but good for other stakeholders as well.
- A new series of short videos that FEMA created with the Insurance Information Institute (III) to help explain BW-12:
Visit www.FEMA.gov/BW12 and for additional documents you may view the BW-12 at http://www.fema.gov/media-library/resources documents/collections/341#show_details.
You may also be interested in the North Carolina Flood Maps available here: http://www.ncfloodmaps.com