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North Carolina homeowners rates to rise an average 4%.

North Carolina homeowners insurance will rise an average of 4% for policies written as of May 1, 2020, according to a settlement reached between the state Insurance Department and the North Carolina Rate Bureau.

Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey also announced a settlement on mobile home rates. Casualty policies will increase 4.3% and fire policies will rise 6.6%, according to a statement.

The settlement with the bureau, which represents companies writing property insurance in North Carolina, averts a legal battle.

“I am happy to announce that North Carolina homeowners will save nearly $285 million a year in premium payments compared to what the NCRB had requested,” Causey said in a statement.

The rate bureau proposed a 17.4% statewide overall increase in homeowners insurance rates, it said. Causey's staff was able to negotiate a settlement of 4%.

Increases in rates were capped at 10%, with the highest increases of 9.8% set for the beach areas of the Outer Banks and 37 coastal ZIP codes.

The state's largest cities, including Charlotte, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, Raleigh and Durham and their surrounding areas will see rate hikes of 3.5%. The western-most territory in the state— Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Jackson and Macon counties—will see an average 0.1% decrease.

The mobile home rate requests also were significantly higher than the approved rates. The bureau requested a 19% increase for casualty coverage and 19.9% for fire policies. The approved rates too will vary by territory, the statement said.

Causey and the rate bureau in 2018 negotiated a 4.8% statewide average homeowners insurance rate increase, the first rate hike in six years.

—Timothy Darragh



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