North Carolina Auto Rates to Rise for Second Time This Year After Agreement

North Carolina automobile insurance rates are poised to increase statewide by a 5% average this fall as part of an agreement reached between state regulators and the insurance industry. The increase comes six months after lawmakers raised minimum auto liability coverage requirements, which added another 5% to many drivers’ premiums.

The settlement announced on Monday by Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey is lower than the average 22.6% rate increase for private passenger vehicles that had been originally requested in February by the North Carolina Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies. The bureau’s requested average rate in an updated March filing increased to 23%, the state Insurance Department said.

Without a settlement, the industry was headed to a scheduled Sept. 22 rate hearing in which a hearing officer would have considered the bureau’s premium rate level request. That hearing is now canceled.

The rate changes will take effect on new and renewed policies starting Oct. 1.

“With factors such as distracted driving, excessive speeding and increased automobile repair costs putting upward pressure on insurance rates, I am happy that we were able to hold the average increase to 5%,” Causey said in a news release. The automobile premium rates will remain among the lowest in the nation, the Republican elected commissioner said.

The agreement also includes an average statewide 16.3% decrease on motorcycle liability insurance rates.

The bureau’s previous rate filing in 2023 ultimately resulted in a settlement that led to an overall average 4.5% increase per year for two years.

Read more here on the higher minimum liability coverage requirements set by Senate Bill 452, which was passed in 2023.

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