Possible break in auto insurance rates

We could be getting a break on our auto insurance rates.

Under an agreement between the State Insurance Commissioner and the insurance industry, North Carolina auto insurance rates will be rolled back to levels of about three years ago and frozen until 2011.

State Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin announced the rollback Wednesday and said the agreement includes $50 million in refunds for private passenger policies.

The settlement with the North Carolina Rate Bureau eliminates the insurance industry’s 2008 rate increase of 9.4 percent and denies a request for a 1.4 percent increase this year.