N.C. Insurance Commissioner addresses criticism ahead of general election

MANTEO — North Carolina Insurance Commissioner Mike Causey, after holding an insurance forum March 18 in Manteo, addressed public criticism in an interview with The Virginian-Pilot.

Causey is from Guilford County and has served as state insurance commissioner since 2017.

He won his three-way Republican primary March 5 with almost 61% of the vote, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website. About 24% of the state’s eligible voters cast ballots.

He faces Natasha Marcus, the Democratic candidate for insurance commissioner and a three-term state senator from Mecklenburg County, in the general election this November.

Marcus has criticized Causey for making settlements that allow insurance rate increases.

“During his eight years in office, he has approved an unprecedented number of rate hikes and refuses to hold public hearings,” Marcus wrote on her campaign website.

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Causey told The Pilot that in looking at the history of rate filings, the Rate Bureau seems to be filing requests for increases more frequently in recent years.

He has also faced backlash over his support of the updated “consent to rate” legislation, which went into effect in 2019.

“We’ve heard some pushback from consumers” about the aspect of consent to rate that allows insurance companies to charge several times over what is typically allowed, Causey told The Pilot.

“The ‘not to exceed’ cap of 250% for residential property and of 550% for auto physical damage will remain in effect,” Causey wrote in a June, 29, 2018, bulletin about consent to rate changes published by digital news magazine The Assembly.

Consumers have appreciated the aspect of consent to rate that eliminates the need for time-sensitive signatures for companies to not drop their policies, he said.

Causey has also faced criticism for hiring political allies and friends for above-average rates, as reported in several articles by Raleigh’s The News & Observer.

The median salary for state employees is $56,252, according to the most recent article, which was published Jan. 16.

Since Causey took office in 2017, “a longtime friend and campaign supporter has been driving him at public expense from his Greensboro home to his Raleigh office and as far away as Santa Fe, New Mexico, earning as much as $84,000 in one year,” according to The News & Observer article.

When The Pilot asked about that, Causey called the article “false journalism” and “a political hit job.” But he didn’t disagree with the figures outlined in the article, such as part-time driver Roger Blackwell’s $44-an-hour pay rate.

“The people of this state have more than gotten their money’s worth from what he’s contributed,” Causey said, outlining Blackwell’s driving qualifications, the fact he’s a sworn law enforcement officer and that he’s a retired Allstate insurance adjuster.

In addition to driving, Blackwell has helped at different times with scheduling Causey’s events, speech-writing and serving as an adviser, Causey added.

He noted that Blackwell’s campaign contributions of about $10,000 over 30 years “had nothing to do with this person being hired. He was the best qualified, and still is.”

When asked about John Woodard, another man he’d hired, Causey verbally distanced himself.

The Department of Insurance terminated Woodard last July, according to a Nov. 2 article in The News & Observer.

“I met him at a couple of political events,” Causey said. “I would call him an acquaintance.”

After Causey hired Woodard part-time, the department’s engineering division hired him full-time to assess the risk on state-owned buildings and determine if the state had the proper amount of insurance on them.

“He’s a disgruntled employee,” Causey said. “If he didn’t do some of the work he claimed, he should repay the state for what he was paid.”