RALEIGH – In North Carolina, so-called ‘dwelling’ insurance policies are not homeowners’ insurance policies. Dwelling policies are offered to non-owner-occupied residences of no more than four units, including rental properties, investment properties and other properties that are not occupied full time by the property owner.
North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey has set May 4, 2026, as the hearing date for the North Carolina Rate Bureau’s proposed 68.3% dwelling insurance rate increase. The hearing will begin at 10 a.m. in the Second Floor Hearing Room at the Department of Insurance in Raleigh.
“We are not in agreement with the Rate Bureau’s proposed increases filed earlier this fall,” said Commissioner Causey. “The next step, according to statute, is to set a hearing date. It is now necessary to schedule a hearing in order to work toward a resolution that will make the most financial sense for our residents and insurance companies.”
Between now and May 4, a possibility exists that Causey and the state’s insurance industry – perhaps better known as the N.C. Rate Bureau — will negotiate a settlement. Stay tuned! A little history on that front is in order. The last proposed dwelling rate increase came in July 2023, when the Rate Bureau requested an average statewide 50.6 percent increase. At that time, the parties negotiated a settlement resulting in an average 8 percent increase, which took effect Nov. 1, 2024.
Monday night here in Pamlico, the seven-member County Commission unanimously adopted a Resolution opposing the dwelling rate increase, calling it “significant and would lead to higher rental costs and threaten economic stability for Pamlico County.”
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