My Turn, Your Turn: Homeowner insurance rates - WECT TV6-WECT.com:News, weather & sports Wilmington, NC

By Gary McNair - bio|email
Posted by Debra Worley - email

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WECT) - If you live in New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender or Onslow counties, this is serious stuff.

By mid-summer your homeowners insurance is scheduled to increase by unusually large amounts - most will be around 30 percent, with some as high as 45 percent.

The reason for this increase is the insurance industry says it doesn't have enough money if a real disaster strikes North Carolina.  Meanwhile, those living in the western part of the state - who also get wind and hail damage from storms - are going to get a decrease.  

This just doesn't make sense to me. Our rates go way up and theirs go down. 

I want to know how they arrived at this scheme.  If you think our economy is hurting now - what do you suppose this will do for the housing market along the coast?

Lawmakers from the coastal counties have introduced bills that can stop the increases and allow time for adequate study to develop a better and fairer solution.

Please let them know you appreciate and support their efforts about House Bill 426 (H426) and Senate Bill 428 (S428).  Knowing that you care so much about this just might help them work even harder to try to get other lawmakers on board to vote for this much needed legislation. 

That's my turn.  Now it's your turn.  To comment on this segment, or anything else, email me at yourturn@wect.com.

Government email contacts:

Sen. Julia Boseman                         Julia.Boseman@ncleg.net

Sen. R. C. Soles, Jr.                          RC.Soles@ncleg.net

Sen. Harry Brown                             Harry.Brown@ncleg.net

Rep. Sandra Hughes                       Sandra.Hughes@ncleg.net

Rep. Carolyn Justice                        Carolyn.Justice@ncleg.net

Rep. Danny McComas                    Danny.McComas@ncleg.net

Rep. George Cleveland                 George.Cleveland@ncleg.net

Rep. Robert Grady                          Robert.Grady@ncleg.net

Rep. Russell Tucker                         Russell.Tucker@ncleg.net

Rep. Bonner Stiller                          Bonner.Stiller@ncleg.net

Viewers' Response:

More and more people in the area are struggling day to day to pay their mortgage and keep food on the table - this is just another hole in the the weakening dike and we have run out of fingers to plug it up.  How many people will be forced to sell their homes now because they can't afford the insurance adding to the "housing crisis".  People who keep their homes have no choice but to pay - taking the money from some other portion of their budget.  So maybe for some, this means a few less meals out during the month but for many others, it will mean making choices like buying groceries or buying the prescriptions they need.

So much emphasis has been placed on fixing the banking crisis on Wall Street and helping people who have lost their homes due to foreclosure - what about the people who are trying to do the right thing?  The people who are making their mortgage payments on time and putting in an honest days work but still struggling to make ends meet because things like insurance rates, food, gas, and child care expenses keep rising while our paychecks remain flat.  It is so disheartening to turn on the TV everyday or open the newspaper and see another bailout going to some large business that has been mismanaged into a financial mess.  A wise man once said "insanity is doing the same thing over and over again expecting different results".  The question is which half of the equation is the sane one...

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