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| Rate Hike Challenged |
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| Friday, 06 February 2009 11:40 |
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Rate hike challenged
Brunswick, coastal areas fight insurance increases By
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(Source: State Port Pilot) Homeowner insurance rates in coastal counties like Brunswick and barrier islands like Bald Head are poised to jump May 1 — unless an opposing force successfully intervenes. Dare County and the Town of Nags Head, facing similar hikes, have hired legal counsel in connection with an appeal of the rate increases that outgoing state insurance commissioner Jim Long approved in December, as well as an appeal of a new Beach Plan deductible of two percent. For strength, Dare and Nags Head officials are asking the support of the state’s 18 coastal counties. “The fight is better in numbers,” Brunswick County manager Marty Lawing told county commissioners Monday night after apprising them of the appeals.
Dare County has already filed to appeal the two-percent deductible — “We don’t understand how they assessed those risks,” Dare County’s attorney and assistant manager Bobby Outten explained — and they will soon file the appeal regarding the homeowner insurance hikes hitting the coastal counties, of which Brunswick would receive the highest. “We don’t think what they did makes sense and we don’t think it’s fair to our citizens and certainly not to others,” Outten said. Commissioner Marty Cooke said he was appalled that homeowner rates have been approved to increase 29.8 percent for Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties while still-vulnerable areas like Charlotte will see a four-percent reduction. Gaston, Mecklenburg and Union counties are set to drop six percent. Cooke also mentioned that this is the third time in six years that the N.C. Rate Bureau (NCRB), which represents private insurance groups in the state and proposes rates to the state’s insurance commissioner, filed for increases. “Unless we fight this, we will continue to see that slippery slope,” said Cooke. Brunswick, New Hanover, Onslow and Pender counties are scheduled for the state’s highest homeowner insurance rate increases at nearly 30 percent for the mainland and 17.5 percent for barrier islands. But prior to insurance commissioner Long’s blessing, the NCRB filed for increases as large as 70 percent along the coast, sending homeowners into panic. NCRB sought the increase, which would have averaged 19.5 percent statewide but now will average 4.05 percent per Long’s approval, to pad private insurance companies against assessments and potentially large payouts to policy-holders in event of a damaging hurricane. Those assessments would come from the managers of the Beach Plan, a state-created coastal homeowner’s insurance plan with limited funds. The plan has the power to levy assessments on private insurance companies for additional money needed. N.C. Rep. Bonner Stiller said the fact that NCRB asked for 70-percent hikes along the coast but settled for just under 30 percent is cause to question that organization’s integrity. “If (NCRB) had any credibility, that takes it all away,” Stiller said in December. Outten said mainland Dare County received a settlement of a 22-percent increase. NCRB initially filed for a 105.9-percent premium jump there. “We’re not the ones who got hit the hardest,” he said. “But we don’t think it’s fair. When you can get the same policy in Mecklenburg County for $499, it’s $2,300 here. We just don’t understand that.” After Long approved the increases, the N.C. Department of Insurance released a statement detailing the numbers for each area of the state. ““It makes sense to the department that homeowners who live farther inland should pay less for insurance because they have less exposure to the impact of a hurricane,” Long stated in that press release. Opponents like Stiller contended that there have in recent years been hurricanes that have left the coast intact but have ravaged inland areas from Charlotte to the mountains. “We’re just going to try to get something fair and equitable for the 18 counties affected by it,” Outten said. Uniquely impacted is Bald Head Island. While Long approved the two-percent deductible for coastal counties under the Beach Plan, Bald Head’s officials were shocked at receiving a five-percent deductible. “Why are they picking on Bald Head?” Brunswick County commission chairman Bill Sue posed Monday night. “We have a higher standard (with the N.C. Building Code) for wind gusts at 140 miles per hour,” Bald Head Island village manager Calvin Peck said. “That’s higher than anywhere in the state. We should have a lower number, not higher.” Peck said the village’s attorney is preparing a case to appeal that five percent. He said he has not received an answer from the state to the question Sue posed Monday. Those deductibles are set to take effect for February 1. The kind of support Dare County and Nags Head seek includes financial, and while the Brunswick County Board of Commissioners didn’t pledge any cash Monday night, it did direct county manager Lawing and county attorney Huey Marshall to research the cause’s worth. |