North Carolina homeowners could soon pay more on insurance premiums to shore up a state-sanctioned program for affordable coastal insurance for a monster hurricane.

Leaders of the so-called "Beach Plan" program told a legislative committee Tuesday that they will soon charge higher rates for coverage. The Department of Insurance also agreed to raise homeowner deductibles on these policies.

The extra revenues could help them cover billions of dollars in insured losses in 18 coastal counties should there be a huge storm.

The committee has been looking at ways to encourage traditional insurance companies to keep offering policies at the coast. Joe

Stewart with the Insurance Federation of North Carolina says the current system for paying for catastrophic losses at the coast is unpredictable.