North Carolina would help pay car insurance costs in foster care

North Carolina's Department of Health and Human Services would run a program to help pay eligible car insurance costs. Help would cover added premiums on a foster parent's policy, premiums for qualifying non-owner insurance, and all or part of a deductible up to $1,000 for claims involving the foster care recipient's driving. The insured person receiving foster care would have to complete driver education approved by the State Superintendent of Public Instruction. The course must be offered by a public high school, a private secondary school, or a licensed driver training school. Eligible insurance would cover the person through a foster parent's policy while living in that household or through a qualifying policy for driving cars they do not own. The program section would take effect July 1, 2026. The funding covers fiscal year 2026–2027 but would take effect January 1, 2027, with application to policies issued or renewed on or after that date.

The North Carolina Rate Bureau would develop an optional insurance policy or add-on for people receiving foster care to drive cars they do not own. The optional policy would provide liability insurance for people receiving foster care when driving passenger cars outside a vehicle fleet. The North Carolina Commissioner of Insurance would have to approve the policy form or add-on. The referenced requirements say the add-on must be available to anyone who received foster care during the coverage period. Coverage could not be withheld solely because the person's household already has car insurance. Coverage must include passenger cars outside a vehicle fleet that are furnished or available to the person for regular use. Sections 1 and 2 would take effect when the bill becomes law. The Bureau would have to submit the optional form for approval no later than October 1, 2026.

A vehicle owner could end an insurance add-on covering a person receiving foster care once the owner stops providing foster care for that person. This permission would apply to vehicle owners who previously provided foster care. The owner must no longer provide foster care for the person whose coverage would end. This provision would take effect when the bill becomes law.