North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey announced a settlement with the N.C. Rate Bureau regarding automobile insurance rates on Monday.
The settlement provides for an average statewide increase of 5%. The settlement is 17.6 percentage points lower than what the Rate Bureau requested in February. The agreement also includes an average statewide 16.3% decrease in motorcycle liability insurance rates.
“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%,” Commissioner Causey said in a news release. “I’m also glad that the agreement will keep North Carolina’s average automobile premiums among the lowest in the nation.”
The Rate Bureau, which represents insurance companies writing automobile insurance policies in North Carolina, is not a part of the Department of Insurance and filed the requested increase on Feb. 3.
The increase will take effect on new and renewed policies on and after Oct. 1.
The agreement means a hearing scheduled on the rate request for Sept. 22 has been canceled.
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