NORTH CAROLINA -- North Carolina's insurance commissioner says there will be a rate hike for homeowners insurance, but it's significantly less than what was proposed.

It's been six years since there's been an increase in homeowners insurance.

Commissioner Mike Causey announced the new rate of 4.8 percent, when the North Carolina Rate Bureau had been proposing an 18.7 percent raise.

Now Causey says this increase will vary according to the area you live in but will be capped at 5.5 percent for homes and covers insurance for tenants and condominiums capped at 12 percent.

In total, the department believes the settlement saves homeowners almost $300 million in the first year of the increase alone compared to what had been proposed.

A hearing has been set for July if they couldn't come to an agreement.

Causey says keeping insurance rates as low as possible is important and believes they've done that with a less than 5 percent increase.

“We have to make sure that we’re protecting consumers as well as keeping the insurance industry solvent. And overall, I mean, nobody likes higher insurance rates, but we have some of the lowest homeowners rates in the Southeast,” said Mike Causey, NC insurance commissioner.

The bureau says the increase will go into effect Oct. 1 of this year.