Success doesn’t come easily. The corollary to that statement is that when success does come knocking, accept it in whatever form available. The state of North Carolina hasn’t learned these lessons and is considering trading some of the lowest auto insurance rates in the country for a better regulatory system where people would pay more.
The scenario is like this. According to the Insurance Information Institute, only five states have lower rates. Residents in every neighboring state pay more for auto coverage. Throughout the rest of the country insurance companies are raising prices and reaping record profits while sitting on record reserves. Despite the success it is enjoying, North Carolina continues to debate changing the process for regulating prices.
Success is Hard to Come By
Effective regulation of the insurance industry is difficult. As a $1 trillion industry that is exempt from federal anti-trust laws, what regulation there is takes place independently in each state. Setting up one regulatory process is difficult enough. Independently establishing the process 50 times is nearly impossible.
The differences in the regulatory environment from state to state dramatically impacts residents. In North Carolina the regulatory system they have delivers low-cost insurance and plenty of insurance companies from which to choose. Other states, Louisiana coming to mind, have a rate approval process that insiders say simply requires 90-day notification of rate increases. Some insiders even say the announced increases often do not get reviewed and are rarely — if ever — rejected. The result of such a system is that state residents pay some of the highest rates in the country.
Citizens in North Carolina need to let their insurance commissioner, Wayne Goodwin, know they like the system exactly the way it works today. You can make your voice heard by contacting the Deputy Commissioner: Tracy Miller Biehn, 919-807-6889, tracy.biehn@ncdoi.gov. Let Tracy know you like the system as it works today. Also, let your local legislative representative know this as well.
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Don’t Mess with Success.
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