MEMBERS: Register | Login

Homeowners insurance to increase 4%

Submitted by WWAY on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 6:39pm.READ MORE:

Insurance rates for some homeowners along our coast may be going up. A settlement between the state and homeowners insurance companies has been reached. This allows for a four percent increase statewide. A state insurance program doesn't have the resources to cover coastal losses if a major hurricane occurs. The state hopes the new agreement will allow private insurers to begin offering plans to homeowners.

Disclaimer: Comments posted on this, or any story are opinions of those people posting them, and not the views or opinions of WWAY NewsChannel 3, its management or employees. You can view our comment policy here.

Add new comment

Feel blessed

Submitted by anne (not verified) on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 11:06am.

Feel blessed that you have insurance. I have had insurance on my mobile home for 22 years. As of September 10, my insurance company is not renewing it because I live within a 10 mile radius of Ocean Isle. Although my mobile home is 22 years old, it may not be worth much, but I could have at least got enough to make a down payment on something else if a hurricane or something else caused me to lose it. Now I don't have that option.

Home Owners Insurance Rate Increase

Submitted by CH resident (not verified) on Sat, 12/20/2008 - 9:09am.

Blogging is absolutely fabulous but while online - go to NC Dept of Insurance and file a complaint and ask for an appeal to this rate increase, copy the local news media and lets get this opened up to public outcry. Why aren't our elected officials screaming about this.? If they will not speak for us - then we can speak out.

They're not screaming because...

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 11:38pm.

...they know it's needed. Unlike the federal government, the insurance companies can't print money when they need it.

Perfect Storm

Submitted by Guest1234 (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 1:05pm.

If this truly is a case of preparing for the big one then if it does not show up will we get our money back? I doubt this is purely about preparing and more about profit to make up for huge losses in the stock market as companies insured worthless financial paper. AIG didn't get federal funds because of storms like Ike and Katrina but instead because of bad investments.There are only so many burdens that homeowners can bear before their bubble pops.

Last year my rates went up,

Submitted by Kenny (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 10:19am.

Last year my rates went up, the year before that the went up and the year before that. Meanwhile if something happens you have to sue to get the coverage you paid for. It's a shame the advocates we pay for are really looking out for the insurance co.

Great

Submitted by Guest916 (not verified) on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 7:13pm.

So, the government can bail out banks and car manufacturers but screw us on our homeowners insurance. Not like we are in a recession or anything, and people are already struggling with their home payments, so I hope they can appreciate the increase in foreclosures. Nice to see that the big people care about us little people.

20% here 4% there

Submitted by Guestoff (not verified) on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 7:09pm.

Insurance rates, power bills, groceries...everything is going up but my salary. These insurance companies want to raise our rates for "future" storms? We haven't had a storm here in years. What did they do will all that money? Illinois isn't the only state with crooks at the helm IMO.

Have you been in a coma for the past five years?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 11:36am.

Where did the money go? Katrina? Rita? Ike? The immense fires in the Western states? The central state floods? Heard about any of them? Do you think that State Farm, Allstate , Nationwide and the rest of them each have fifty pots of money that they never mingle? The insurance companies are hurting from the high number of major disasters. They need to replenish their reserves, or you may find a major insurance company declaring bankruptcy when the next big disaster hits. When we do face the next major storm, I don't want to be one of the folks told, "Sorry - we're broke." Rates are going up across the entire country, and those facing the greatest risks are paying the highest premiums....exactly as it SHOULD be.

Insurance companies

Submitted by Lion hill (not verified) on Sun, 08/30/2009 - 7:03pm.

Most insurance companies are not hurting at all. Instead of insuring us when disaster happens they continue to line their pockets by denying claims or downgrading them. Insurance adjusters are trained to try to settle the case for the least amount of money as possible, commonly taking advantage of people not as knowledgeable as them. They are in the business of making money not paying it out. Come on they insure people all over the U.S. Surely not every state is having a disaster. How many times have you actually used your insurance over the past ten years? Most people don't have to use it at all, so that's profit minus little overhead which mainly are office workers and computers spitting out bills. The actual reason some insurance companies may be hurting is they spent their surplus profits by taking high risk investments which are not paying off.

So?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 11:04am.

"The actual reason some insurance companies may be hurting is they spent their surplus profits by taking high risk investments which are not paying off. " Two facts you overlook: 1. Investments have ALWAYS been a part of the insurance business. They don't sit around on a stack of money waiting to dole it out, nor do they put it in six million FDIC insured savings accounts. 2. Investment losses are still LOSSES, and what you seem to be missing is that "no money," for whatever reason, equals no money to pay claims. They need to rebuild their cash reserves now, BEFORE the next mega-disaster strikes. I also believe that you underestimate the payouts that a Katrina or a Rita incurs. Ten years of fat gravy can evaporate within weeks, especially when you have local judges ruling that companies have to pay out for claims specifically barred from the policy. (As happened in Mississippi).

If you are so certain

Submitted by SurfCityTom on Mon, 08/31/2009 - 9:31am.

of your facts, why not file a complaint with the Department of Insurance? But be certain you have loss cost and expense data available. Your suppositions have no bearing. It's a pure dollar and cents issue.

commonsense works for the insurance companies

Submitted by Guest916 (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 4:30pm.

Common sense ain't so common is it now?

You can't tell me...

Submitted by Guestoff (not verified) on Fri, 12/19/2008 - 1:11pm.

...that these insurance companies that collect monthly premiums with deductibles are hurting so bad that they need to raise the rates. I think it has more to do with profit margins than anything. A coma, nah, been working six and seven days a week. "replenish their reserves" is exactly right. I think the rates are going up to make up the difference from bad investments with people like Bernard Madoff, Fannie and Freddie, AIG and the likes. When I asked my insurance company why my auto insurance rate kept going up when I've never filed a claim or had any tickets, they said it was mandated by the state to keep rates affordable for everyone else. It's like I'm being punished so people can continue to build McMansions in places that are more susceptible to storms and fires and drive status symbol vehicles. My insurance agent didn't look like he was hurting too bad in his Armani suit and Rolex watch while getting out of his BMW that just came from Landfall.

wealth envy

Submitted by Gueston (not verified) on Sun, 12/28/2008 - 9:18pm.

I love it when a person tries to drag down another persons success. If you think your insurance agent is a crook then maybe you should find another. One that say wears bad clothes lives in a bad neighborhood and drives a car that you approve of...

Sounds more like you suffer from wealth envy

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Sat, 12/20/2008 - 12:03am.

What does your insurance agent's lifestyle have to do with catastrophic insurance losses? Digest these figures: 2004 insurance losses topped $30 billion 2005, they exceeded $61 billion dollars. 2006 and 2007 were quiet - together, they only totaled $16 billion First nine months of 2008, almost $25 billion....then the Witch Creek fire flared up in San Diego County...that brought it up to almost $27 billion. With the current storms ravaging the Midwest and Northeast, we'll top $30 billion this year too. Your point about losses in the market is true, but guess what - it has no bearing on their current need for cash other than to make it more pressing. They can't pay out WHAT THEY DON'T HAVE. Got it? Between the catastrophic losses they have had to pay out and the decreased value of their traditionally conservative portfolios, the cupboard is bare! If they don't rebuild their cash reserves and we get hit with another major disaster any time soon, victims won't be paid.

Sounds like you're an issurance agent

Submitted by Guestoff (not verified) on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 12:27pm.

I'm not envious of people that get rich the honest way. I despise people that screw others to enrich themselves. Corporate America may generally discriminate against the less wealthy, but nature and insurance companies are equal- opportunity offenders. All your insurance numbers still don't account for the huge profits insurance companies continue to make. After Hurricane Katrina and other storms, insurers paid out $61 billion for damages and still ended up with a profit of $43 billion that adds to a decades-long earning streak with the exception of the terrorist attacks in 2001. They still made a profit then too. I don't buy the "cupboard is bare". Got it!

Huge profits?

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Sun, 12/21/2008 - 11:36pm.

Care to look at quarterly revenue growth, year-on-year? Allstate is around -19%. Nationwide is below -50%. State farm is running about 2% on an annual basis, and thankfully they're big enough to drag the industry up to just below 3%. Do you truly believe that these companies are lying about inadequate cash reserves, but every state insurance commissioner or regulatory body is approving the increases anyway?

You can split hairs all day

Submitted by Guestoff (not verified) on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 3:33pm.

Do I believe a politician would lie, Yes. They call it misspeaking. Politicians and the insurance industry jumped in bed together many years ago. The working class in this country can't handle anymore increases in taxes, Homeowner, car and health insurance. Why can't you understand that. We are becoming a socialist country and the free market system is all but gone. Government is not the answer but the problem. Greed and big government are going to be our demise.

Don't blame the insurance companies

Submitted by Commonsensenotc... on Mon, 12/22/2008 - 6:53pm.

It's not their fault that your taxes are going to support incompetent, lazy slugs who can't manage their own lives. You can't mix apples and oranges. If you think things are bad now, drive the insurance companies out and wind up with a situation like Florida is going through, with the state trying to underwrite coastal insurance. They only take in about $200 million a year in premiums, but have already insured over $400 BILLION. Tell me that's not a recipe for disaster. Do you think I want to pay twenty or thirty percent more for insurance that I may not use? Of course not! If I need another mega-check, however, as I did after Fran, I wamt to know that State Farm is there to write it, and if they can't replenish the cash reserves to an adequate level, they may not be.

Primary links