The North Carolina Rate Bureau submitted its annual auto insurance filing with the N.C. Department of Insurance and is requesting an overall statewide average increase of 7.6 percent, announced Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey.
The NCRB represents the state's insurance companies and is a separate entity from the N.C. Department of Insurance.
By law, the NCRB must submit auto rate filings with the Department every year by February 1.
The filing will be reviewed and if the Department does not agree with the need for the requested rates, it can negotiate a settlement or call for a hearing.
In 2017, the NCRB requested a 13.8 percent increase, but Commissioner Causey negotiated a 2.2 percent increase – which saved N.C. consumers more than $1 billion. The settlement also included an agreement the NCRB would not make a filing in 2018.
North Carolina is one of the least expensive states for car insurance. In 2018, Business Insider, Forbes and Insure.com ranked N.C. as the tenth least expensive state in the nation for auto insurance.