news-record.com

A settlement today between the state and the North Carolina Rate Bureau decrease private passenger auto insurance rates to just under 2006 levels.

The changes begin Nov. 1 and are retroactive to Jan. 1.

Some drivers will share in $50 million worth of refunds beginning in mid-2010. Not everyone will get refunds because many policyholders already have multiple-car and safe driver discounts, said insurance department spokeswoman Johanna Royo.

There are 3.8 million policyholders in North Carolina and about 1 million are eligible for refunds of varying amounts, she said.

The settlement does away with the Rate Bureau’s implemented 9.4 percent 2008 rate increase and denies its 2009 request for an additional 1.4 percent rate increase. The settlement includes an additional 0.5 percent decrease.

The Rate Bureau, an independent organization that represents auto insurance companies in North Carolina, may not file changes to auto rates until 2011, which means that the maximum allowable auto rates are locked in until at least Oct. 1, 2011.

The refunds stem from a dispute between the Department of Insurance and the Rate Bureau over rates ordered in 2008. During the appeals process, the Rate Bureau implemented an interim 9.4 percent rate increase that went into effect on Jan. 1 of this year.

In cases where insurance companies charged policyholders more than the rates determined by this settlement, insurance companies are required by statute to refund the difference between the rates charged and the settled rates, with interest.