Dec 04 2008
Can I at Least Stay in Your Guest House?
Homeowners across North Carolina could face a steep increase in their insurance premium next year to help pay for damage to beach properties when the next major storm hits the coast.
The N.C. Rate Bureau, an insurance company association that recommends insurance rates to the state commissioner, released a proposed increase Tuesday that would raise homeowners’ premiums by an average of 19.5 percent across the state. The rate jump would be higher on the coast, with potential increases of as much as 50 percent on North Carolina’s Outer Banks and 70 percent in coastal counties.
Homeowners in the rest of the state, including the Triangle, would see increases from 1 percent to 22.5 percent.
The N&O
Let me sum this up for my fellow Tar Heals. If you buy a house on the coast in a hurricane and flood-prone area, and -shockingly- a hurricane or flood comes by and ruins it, the REST of us -from Raleigh to Watauga- have to pay for your sorry butt.
Yeah, that sounds fair.
If you want to live on the coast, go ahead and live there. But YOU have to take responsibility for what might happen! I don’t live on the coast, so it’s not my job to make sure you get a new house whenever a hurricane knocks down your old one! And if you can’t afford the disaster insurance on your own, DON’T LIVE WHERE HURRICANES GO!
