A cold winter has lead to a Virginia Beach, Va.-based insurer heating up its rates for customers by 18%.

The Virginia Property Insurance Association, the state’s insurer of last resort for homeowners, plans to charge the higher rate Dec. 1, following approval by the state’s insurance division, according to the Richmond Times-Dispatch.

The association covers nearly 27,800 properties, with homeowners paying an average of more than $500 annually.

The need for higher rates, according to the association’s general manager, was a move last year to enhance coverage, the report said. The association moved thousands of policyholders to a “broad-form” policy instead of basic fire protection coverage, hoping to get more value for the money, Leland M. Nye told the Times-Dispatch.

What really affected the company, he said, was frozen pipe coverage and water damage, from what Nye called “an unusually cold winter.”

Covering damage it hadn’t covered before and paying larger sums due to home damage resulted in a sharp jump in claims the association had to pay, he added.

For the nine-month period that ended June 30, claims rose 31% to $8.5 million, from $6.5 million, according to the report.