An insurance rate hike of up to 35 percent for coastal homeowners will be considered during a hearing set to begin Monday morning in Raleigh.

The meeting is open to the public, but no public comments can be made as N.C. Insurance Commissioner Wayne Goodwin hears arguments for and against the increases.

Insurance companies, represented by the N.C. Rate Bureau, requested at the beginning of the year an overall statewide average increase of 25.3 percent for homeowners insurance rates, varying by geographic territory.

“Goodwin ordered that a hearing be held in the matter because the proposed rates appear to the Department of Insurance to be excessive and unfairly discriminatory,” a department news release says.

Tyler Newman, senior government affairs director for Wilmington-based Business Alliance for a Sound Economy, said he plans to attend the meeting Monday.

“It’s a significant barrier to investment in eastern North Carolina,” Newman said of the potential insurance rate increases.

He encouraged others from the Cape Fear region to be present at the hearing. “Even though there is no public comment period, a strong showing from coastal folks is important,” Newman said.

In September, BASE and the Wilmington Regional Association of Realtors hosted a town hall meeting on the topic of homeowners insurance rates that featured Goodwin.

During Monday's hearing in Raleigh, experts from the N.C. Rate Bureau, on behalf of the insurance companies, and experts from NCDOI, representing the interests of the public, will present their cases for or against rate changes.

“Goodwin is to serve as the hearing officer and determine what, if any, rate adjustments are warranted,” the NCDOI release states.

Business and government officials have expressed their opposition to the rates in a variety of ways since they were proposed in January. BASE and WRAR have posted information on their websites, and Wilmington City Council approved a resolution Jan. 21 opposing the changes.

“Homeowners in coastal communities already pay homeowner’s premiums two to three times the rate charged for the same type of homeowners policies (fire, theft, etc.) of inland properties, in addition to having separate flood, as well as wind and hail policies,” Wilmington city manager Sterling Cheatham wrote in a letter to city council members that accompanied the resolution. “The City of Wilmington and New Hanover County, as well as other coastal counties in North Carolina, are experiencing difficult economic times that are currently gripping our nation. Additional increases would once again place an undue and excessive burden on homeowners and the economy in coastal communities.”

The hearing begins at 9 a.m. Monday in the Jim Long Hearing Room on the third floor of the Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh.