At the beginning of this year, the North Carolina Rate Bureau, speaking for the interests of North Carolina’s auto insurance providers, asked the North Carolina Department of Insurance–a state agency–to issue a ruling increasing North Carolina drivers’ auto insurance rates by a mean of 13%. The Department of Insurance did not begin its decision-making process regarding the proposed increase until the end of June. Now, auto insurance policy-writers based in Virginia are waiting for a decision from the North Carolina Department of Insurance, which is not estimated to come before the middle of August.