I just received a letter from home insurance company (Consent to rate - CTR) stating I will be dropped in two months if I do not sign and agree to 28% increase in rates. That is an increase over the state set maximum. Have any of you received this type of letter, and what did you do? My concern is once the CTR is signed there will be no limit in what they feel they can charge. Know of any good independent insurance agents around?
Continued to research and found it is legal for them to request. Just an underhanded tactic to exhort more money. They would have been far better off to ask for a small increase to get the consent signed and then they could have raised rates. I guess I will be dropping my agent of 30+ years (See what loyalty gets ya). Again, anyone know of a good reputable independent agent in the area? Showing just two of the articles I found. Sounds like there will be more folks affected as time goes on. by BILL McGINTY / NBC Charlotte Bio | Email | Follow: @billwcnc Posted on October 25, 2012 at 8:21 PM CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Did you recently get a letter from your homeowners insurance company asking you to sign a consent form that would allow them to raise your insurance rate beyond what the state mandates? An NBC Charlotte viewer from Statesville contacted the I-Team because he got this very letter. The letter says “action required, sign and return enclosed consent to rate form.” If you sign this, you are giving your insurance company the right, and your consent, to set the rate they deem is appropriate. Here's the disturbing part -- if you don’t sign it, the letter says, “your policy will not be renewed.” The I-Team took this letter to North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin Thursday. He said he's upset this is happening and his advice to homeowners is not to sign it. “Yes, it’s lawful. But you need to know that you don’t have to sign this. If they drop you, they must give you sufficient notice and if they don’t they have to keep you at the agreed rate for another cycle,” said Goodwin. If you don't want to sign it, don’t. But quickly shop around for a better company as you could be dropped. Goodwin said he is urging the State Legislature to address this issue very soon. _____________________________________________________________________________ Have you gotten your letter, yet? Homeowners in North Carolina say they are being forced to agree to pay higher insurance premiums. Fox 8 reporting that major insurance companies are sending out “Consent to Rate” letters asking homeowners for permission to raise their premium above the state’s set rate. If you don’t agree to the increase, the insurance company will cancel your policy. Coastal property owners were the first to see the letters several years ago. -A spokeswoman for the Department of Insurance says it is completely legal. A suggestion: If you don’t want to agree to the rate increase…shop around using independent insurance agents. Independent agents typically represent multiple companies, many of which are not implementing the increase. BTW: Officials with the four major insurance companies — Allstate, Farm Bureau, Nationwide and State Farm — say they have no choice since the state’s insurance commissioner has denied requests for minimum rate increases over the past several years. http://myfox8.com/2013/02/05/homeow...forced-to-agree-to-higher-insurance-premiums/
Reasonable house - Good credit - Autos w/ same company. A couple small mother nature claims over 30 years. LOL... I do not follow this site close / often enough to know if getting Buzzed is a good or bad thing for a reference!!!
Just went through that whole fiasco "consent rate" BS myself. The real scoop is insurance companies are filing for increases due to a bill nick named the "Beach Plan". It allows insurance companies to access all home owners in the state a 10% fee to supplement their beach property claims. You and I are covering the rich mans house at the beach because the insurance companies are tired of paying for storm damages and want to stop insuring them at the less than adequate state mandated rates. The state thought it was wise to mandate the way a rich mans $750,000 beach house gets covered economically. So the insurance companies are striking back. Allstate was the first to get approval and the rest will follow soon. Here's the kicker!!! The insurance agents will get you to lessen your coverage to bring the price back to where you've been paying. Well almost. Everyone I contacted said it was a 5% increase. And that exactly what my new price came to. Along with a larger deductible, less cover for replacement, and a whole new look at what you are really getting ..... BS. So shopping your insurance for a better rate and moving to a new carrier will just have you dealing with a new "consent" letter in the very near future. NC and it's catering to the wealthy can kiss my ..... PS: The real slimy detail on the beach plan is your insurance company can't adjust your coverage till you sign the consent form so they can send it to the state. Then they can get you a new figure. That's plain slimey!!!
Well this is a reply to an old thread but the problem hasn't gone away. After being a State Farm customer since the beginning of time they are tossing me to the curb. I am willing to adjust my coverage and up my deductible but they still want that letter signed. They Loose! If Polentardmafia catches this P.M. me please! Otherwise if someone wouldn't mind forwarding the contact info to me.
"Every" insurance company will want that letter signed. They have to provide it to the state. Shopping won't help. Repeatedly calling your representatives and sending complaints letters to the insurance commissioner makes me feel better. They're either going to grease this wheel or live with the squeak for a long time. If more people would do that and quit taking it kindly with a smile ..... this reverse Robin Hood insurance will stop.
Hey man. I'll PM you my info but Dan is not correct that every insurance co is going to make you go consent to rate. It depends on several factors and I'll explain more if we talk. Thanks,
Any reason you all are getting those letters? High risk? Claims? Curious if this is something everyone can expect at some point.
http://www.insurancejournal.com/blogs/right-street/2013/08/22/302649.htm North Carolina is the last state using a pure “rate bureau” system for both home and auto insurance. The North Carolina Rate Bureau is a legally mandated, but privately run cartel through which insurers collectively set both rates and the terms and conditions of coverage for personal lines insurance products. The rates are then submitted to the insurance department, which either approves them or recommends reductions or (in theory, if not often in reality) increases. Insurers are allowed to deviate downward in price, but not to exceed the rate cap. At least, that’s how the system works, in theory. As this story makes clear, the reality is a bit more complicated. Should an insurer determine that a given risk doesn’t fit the standard profile, it will generally send the consumer a “Consent to Rate” form, which permits the company to charge in excess of the Rate Bureau’s recommendations. Refusing to consent is generally a one-way ticket, in the auto insurance market, to the Reinsurance Facility, and in the homeowners market, to the FAIR Plan or Beach Plan.
I have never had a claim on my homeowners' insurance since I have owned my house 6 years ago. Or even before that on my previous home. I don't know what risk level would have changed either. AFAIK, everyone in NC will probably get one of these letters at some point in the next year or so.
I never thought my agent of 22 years would lie to me? He told me the top 5 are all going to require it?? Maybe I put to much faith in insurance salesmen? :jester:
I got a letter saying I had to sign because what they are charging is above the rate recommended by the department of insurance or someone else with a NORMAL rate my age. I didn't sign I dumped state farm and went to Liberty Insurance and saved $125.00 a month over State Farm.
As I understand it, the companies are sending those letters to customers because the rates have not yet been approved by the NC Rating Bureau (even though they were submitted back in January to become effective August 1).
Got a CTR from Liberty last year and kicked them to the curb. I have Erie now and they are increasing my rates the max they can. I have heard there is an across the board 7% increase for Johnston Co this year.
