Homeowners Insurance in Anderson, South Carolina (2024)

Anderson, South Carolina, is a fairly large, thriving city Upstate that’s maintained its small-town friendliness and historic Southern charm. Its growth is no surprise, then, as its location about an hour from the Blue Ridge mountains and right alongside major highways is desirable for all sorts of people.

As the city continues to develop, people will continue to seek out homes. As diverse as the city of Anderson is, all its houses have at least one thing in common. All will need homeowners insurance to protect them from unexpected accidents and disasters.

The average cost of home insurance in Anderson is about $1,947 for a $200,000 house, but you may be able to find coverage for under $1,000 per year. Despite our best efforts, we can’t control everything that happens in our lives. Homeowners insurance is the best way to protect your property and your financial livelihood if something goes wrong. 

In Anderson, where the median home price is over $250,000 and increasing every year, you likely want to protect your property with a good policy. Most people would be unable to cover major significant damage out of pocket.

Mortgage lenders are aware that most homeowners wouldn’t be able to cover major property damage on their own. This is why most lenders require homeowners to get insurance. 

While you may not have a say in getting a policy or not, you do have a choice in how much you pay for coverage. It depends on which provider you choose, which coverages you need, and more. Let’s break it down.

The rates in this article are sourced from the South Carolina Department of Insurance. The top 25 insurer groups by national premium volume were required to submit their annual rates, while other companies opted to do so voluntarily. The sample rates are for a homeowner with no insurance claims in the past five years and an average credit score.

As you can see, premiums between these select providers in Anderson vary considerably. Also, notice how rates for $350,000 homes were higher across the board than rates for $200,000 homes. 

On average, the premiums for $350,000 homes are 77% higher. Generally, the more home you need to cover, the more you’ll pay for insurance. This is because bigger, more expensive homes have higher replacement costs.

Many factors affect insurance rates. To better understand the cost of homeowners insurance in Anderson, we can break down the numbers even further. Not only does the size of the house matter, but also the age of the home. Generally, older homes are more costly to cover because they have older, perhaps less common features that would be more difficult to replace were they to get damaged. 

Also, they may not be up to the latest building and safety codes, which makes them more hazardous than newer houses. This inherent risk makes them less appealing to insurance companies, and they’ll likely charge more to cover such homes.

For example, some older houses have aging HVAC or plumbing systems, which means a failure that can cause water or electrical damage is more likely, and the insurance company doesn’t want to deal with this. Also, some older homes may have major red flags, like knob and tube or aluminum home wiring setups, which can deter some companies from offering coverage altogether.

Let’s take a look at the difference in home insurance rates in Anderson for $200,000 homes of different age groups:

The difference in home insurance premiums in Anderson is apparent. While it may not seem too drastic for some providers, such as Universal Property & Casualty, which increased in overall average by just over $100 between 1-34-year-old houses and 35+ year houses, this is still a 15% increase. On the other hand, Allstate saw an average increase of just over 40% between the two home age groups, which was an $833 difference. 

You’ll see that the construction of the home matters, too. Masonry houses, made of bricks or concrete, usually have lower premiums than frame (wooden) houses. This is because frame houses can stand up to the elements better. They may suffer less damage from severe weather – insurers like this.

Anderson has grown notably in the last few years, and the combination of increased housing demand and rising construction costs can make properties more expensive. While insurance replacement cost isn’t the same as market value, more expensive properties overall will create the need for higher coverage amounts.

Keeping age and construction type in mind, take a look at the average home insurance rates in Anderson for $350,00 worth of coverage.

Insurance agents in Anderson will work on your behalf to match you with a policy you want. Many agents work with only one or two insurance providers. Not us. At Clovered, we partner with several of the country’s top insurance companies in an attempt to offer you several options to choose from.

We’re an independent insurance agency that operates in 19 states, and South Carolina is one of them. We’d be happy to help you find home insurance in Anderson. You can go through our online quote flow, contact one of our licensed agents at 833-255-4117 or email us at [email protected] with any questions. We can help you get quotes, compare policies, and eventually buy one that works for you.

Homeowners insurance policies are usually divided into different aspects of coverage. Each area protects your property or financial situation in a different way. A typical home insurance plan in Anderson, known as an HO3 policy, should have these areas of coverage:

Dwelling and other structures coverage have to do with protecting your house and property from damages. Dwelling coverage financially safeguards the main structure of your house like the walls, windows, floor, roof, and other permanent features like porches, balconies, driveways, and more. 

When getting a policy in Anderson, you usually choose the amount of dwelling coverage you want in your policy. It’s typically based on the replacement cost of your house and must be close to its value.

Other structures coverage covers features on your property other than your house, such as fences, detached garages, gazebos, and more.

The amount of other structures coverage you have is often up to 10% of your dwelling coverage. For example, if you have $200,000 of dwelling coverage, it’s normal to have up to $20,000 in other structures coverage.

Personal property coverage is designed for your belongings inside your house. It protects your furniture, electronics, clothes, valuables, and more. When getting a home insurance policy, you determine the amount of personal property coverage you want. A good way to do this is with an inventory list. 

For instance, if you think you have $100,000 worth of belongings, you should choose at least $100,000 of personal property coverage.

Both liability coverage and medical payments coverage protect your financial well-being in case someone gets injured on your property and decides to sue you for damages. If you’re found liable, your insurance can cover the related medical expenses and legal fees. Standard home insurance policies typically come with $100,000 in liability coverage.

Loss of use coverage, also known as additional living expenses coverage, is used when you’re forced to move out of your home after it sustains damage. When your home is being rebuilt, loss of use coverage from your insurance company can cover the costs you incur when you relocate, such as expenses for hotel stays, food, and gas.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) maintains flood maps for the country. Any homeowner whose house is in a FEMA-designated high-risk flood zone is required to get flood insurance by their mortgage provider. 

Home insurance won’t cover flooding damage from heavy rains or storm surges. You’d need flood insurance to ato safeguard your home from all flood risks adequately.

Historically, flood insurance was only available through the federal government as part of the National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP). But, the private flood insurance market is growing greatly, with private companies offering higher coverage limits and competitive rates nationwide.

We can help you explore your flood insurance options in Anderson. Like we do with home insurance, we partner with several flood companies, including the NFIP, and we will try to find the best coverage for you. Our flood insurance quote form is quick and easy to submit, and an agent will reach out to you after it’s been reviewed.

Thankfully, Anderson doesn’t have too many flood zones. Some properties along Whitner Creek are in a special flood hazard area, designated as an AE flood zone. Generally speaking, homes close to and bordering water are more likely to be in flood zones. 

To check your flood zone, you can visit FEMA’s website. As you can imagine, maintaining flood maps for the whole country is a large task. FEMA updates their flood maps semi-regularly, and your flood zone is subject to change. You should stay on top of the flood zone designation of your home. You can also look at Anderson County’s flood facts.

Even if your home is not in a high-risk flood area, it’s still wise to invest in flood insurance. Any home is subject to flooding, and over 25% of the NFIP’s insurance claims come from homes outside of special flood hazard zones.

We mentioned that the age of your home, the size of your home, and the construction of your home could affect homeowners insurance rates in Anderson. There are even more factors that insurance companies look at when determining premiums. The location of your house has an effect in a few ways. Your credit history and claims history do, too.

One of the reasons home insurance premiums vary across the country is because of the different weather-related risks in different places. Anderson is far inland and not very prone to hurricanes, but South Carolina overall is at risk every year. The risk of hurricanes and hurricane-related weather can raise premiums. The same goes for tornadoes. Tornadoes touch down upstate fairly regularly, and this risk isn’t appealing to insurers.

Additionally, claims history and credit history can affect how much you pay for insurance. If you’ve got a history of missed payments to your creditors, your insurance company may be worried that you won’t pay your premiums on time and thus charge you more to offset this risk.

Also, you may pay more for insurance if you’ve filed claims in the recent past. Insurance companies believe that someone who has filed a claim is more likely to file another than someone who has never filed before.

Clovered offers one of the best ways to get home insurance quotes in Anderson. We partner with some of the nation’s top carriers, and we can bind policies in 19 states. Clovered was established with one mission in mind: to simplify insurance. We’d love to help you get a quote.  

You can get a quote entirely online, or if you want to speak to a licensed agent on the phone, call 833-255-4117 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. Or, you can email us anytime at [email protected], and an agent will get back to you soon.

Getting home insurance quotes is an important step in securing protection for your property. It’s important to get quotes from multiple providers so you know you’re getting a good deal. We can help you along the way.