Insurance providers in North Carolina have asked state regulators to approve significant increases in home insurance premiums, particularly for those customers living in coastal areas.
An industry umbrella group, the Rate Bureau, told the Sun News that homeowners insurance companies were looking to defray a high level of anticipated payouts from this year’s hurricane season.
“We think the likelihood of landfall is very great,” Rate Bureau director Ray Evans told the newspaper.
However, regulators and homeowners are less than pleased. The representative of one coastal home builders and realtors association, Willo Kelly, decried the proposed increases to the Sun News.
“Again the coast is being hit by the highest amount of increase. We already pay more to begin with,” says Kelly.
While homeowners and home builders are not pleased with a possible rise in premiums, the rate increases still need to be approved by state insurance commissioner Wayne Goodwin, whom the Sun News reports has battled large-scale rate hikes in the past. The Associated Press adds that the policies in question are generally basic ones, which cover properties not eligible for more extensive insurance.
