Smart Auto Insurance Blog

According to the article “NC Auto Insurers to cut rates, provide refunds” from the Triangle Business Journal, North Carolina insurance commissioner Wayne Goodwin signed a settlement with the NC Rate Bureau ensuring that North Carolina auto insurance rates will be set back to just below 2006 levels.  In addition, up to $50 million in refund checks will be paid out to policyholders.  The rate bureau represents auto insurance companies throughout NC.

This settlement will eliminate the 9.4% increase that occurred last year as well as reduce rates by another .5% this year.  Also part of the agreement is that the bureau cannot file for changes to auto insurance rates until 2011.  Goodwin’s office figures this will save NC policyholders around $545 million in premiums. 

The refund checks will start to arrive in the middle of 2010.  They stem from a dispute over rates ordered in 2008.  During the appeals process, the bureau increased rates beginning January 1.  In cases where insurers charged customers more than the rates agreed upon in the settlement, auto insurance companies have to refund the difference between the rates charged and the settlement rates with interest.  North Carolina drivers are getting a great deal as rates go down and refunds are delivered.

Drivers by the thousands across the state of North Carolina could enjoy some relief from the recent spike they have experienced in their auto insurance rates due to a bill that recently passed through the senate with flying colors.

Essentially the bill would eliminate the recent added requirement that all automobile insurance provide the same level of uninsured and underinsured protection  as it does liability coverage.  The bill, which pased the senate by a 48-0 vote passes the house, it will go into effect October 1.

Other information about North Carolina Auto Insurance.

In the Insurance Journal, it was reported that Attorney General Martha Coakley is wary of a potential entrant into the Massachusetts auto insurance market. Occidental Fire and Casualty Insurance Company recently filed its proposed rates for high-risk drivers, and they are 10% more expensive than average high-risk policies in the state.

Occidental also wants to charge several surcharges and fees that are either illegal in Massachusetts or considered unfair, including:

• A 35% surcharge for those unable to verify their driving records, including recent immigrants from non-English speaking countries who can’t get their records in English. That’s on top of the higher premium for inexperienced drivers.
• Drivers filing glass claims have to pay Occidental two deductibles: a comprehensive deductible and a separate glass deductible
• A fee of $25 tacked onto each initial policy purchase
• Fees of $8 per installment

In addition, Occidental does not allow drivers to reinstate their auto insurance policies after being canceled for nonpayment, which is against Massachusetts law. (Buying a new policy after having one canceled results in more costly auto insurance premiums.) Coakley is especially concerned because Occidental is targeting inner-city communities, where residents tend to have fewer auto insurance options.

North Carolina insurance commissioner Wayne Goodwin said Monday that auto insurance companies in North Carolina are requesting a 1.4% average rate increase on average via the North Carolina Rate Bureau, the organization that represents Auto Insurance companies in the state.  The 2009 auto insurance rate increase request is in addition to the 9.4% increase that was requested in 2008.

More North Carolina auto insurance information and resources.

Beginning January 1, 2009, auto insurance companies will be permitted to raise the North Carolina auto insurance rates by 9.4%.

North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Jim Long, initally requested that auto insurance companies reduce their rates by 16% but the N.C. rate bureau who represents the states auto insurers had previously requested a 12.9% increase.  A subsequent appeal to The North Carolina court of appeals trimmed the increase to 9.4% but that might be temporary until the court rules on the appeal.