First-time homeowner Tamara Matheson is still trying to figure out why she got dropped from her home insurance coverage.
On Jan. 19, she received a letter from Farmers Insurance, one of the nation’s top insurers, that after reviewing her file, they were unable to insure her 1947 ranch-style home in Mebane.
Though she said she’d never filed a claim during her four years as a policyholder, her consent-to-rate premium “exceeds 250% of the N.C. Rate Bureau premium,” the company said.
In other words, the price of insurance has outstripped the state’s current threshold, written into law , that allows insurance companies to charge rates higher — up to 250% — than the state-approved rate.
Farmers says getting two and a half times the allowable rate is still not enough. Rising construction and labor costs, among other cost drivers, are making it harder for them to operate in the state. The Rate Bureau and the state are currently trying to reach a settlement on a new rate .
“It’s kind of insane to me that they require such exorbitant amounts of money to be covered,” Matheson told The N&O in a phone call.