Best and Cheapest Homeowners Insurance in North Carolina

North Carolinians know their state has some unparalleled natural beauty thanks to its various landscapes, from the coastal plains on the eastern side of the state to the picturesque Blue Ridge Mountains that run through its western parts.

North Carolina is a diverse, beautiful state. If you’ve got a home in North Carolina, you probably don’t want anything bad to happen to it.

The best way to financially protect your home and property is with the right homeowners insurance. Use this guide before shopping for home insurance in North Carolina to learn about average costs, factors, and more in the Tar Heel State.

The average price of homeowners insurance in North Carolina is about $1,772 per year for $250,000 of dwelling coverage. The cost of homeowners insurance will vary for every person based on many factors, one of the largest being replacement cost – your home’s physical value.

The bigger and more expensive your home is, the more dwelling coverage you need. The more dwelling coverage you need, the more you’ll pay for homeowners insurance. Look below at the average homeowners insurance in North Carolina at different home price points.

Due to recent inflation and other factors, the median home value in North Carolina has shot up to over $300,000. While replacement cost isn’t exactly the same as your home’s market value, you still might expect to pay on the higher end as home insurance costs increase, as many other things have.

Insurance companies work with their state of business to discuss rate increases as needed. In June of 2022, North Carolina authorized a rate increase for many homeowners in the state. New or renewing policies after June 1 will see a statewide increase of 7.9%, although it could be less or more depending on your exact area.

Many residents on the coast or in areas with greater storm damage risk saw increases of 9.9%. Some of these places include the beach and coastal areas of Currituck, Dare Hyde, Brunswick, Carteret, New Hanover, Onslow, and Pender counties, and many more. 

Many residents in the Piedmont Triad area should have experienced a 5.9% rate increase, giving a statewide increase to the average cost of home insurance in North Carolina between the two numbers at 7.9%. Note, though, that these increases are on top of the other rate increases that you may experience regardless due to storm damages, inflation, changes to your property, and other rate increases your provider had planned for your upcoming policy term.

No one wants to see their North Carolina homeowners insurance rates increase, but you might take comfort in the fact that the original rate increase that was proposed was 24.5%, but it ended up being only 7.9%, according to the governor.

Homeowners policies are separated into sections based on what area of your property or liability they cover. These coverages are standard in every HO3 policy, the most common type of home insurance in North Carolina.

The best homeowners insurance in North Carolina will be a policy with all these coverages at a price that works for you. This could come from any provider, depending on your situation and the factors that affect your rate. Every company has slightly different ways of underwriting that result in different premiums, which is why you must shop around when looking for house insurance in North Carolina.

Note that the best homeowners insurance isn’t necessarily the cheapest, either. It might be well worth paying a little more for higher quality coverage, better customer service, or optional endorsements you might need.

State Farm and North Carolina Farm Bureau are the two largest homeowners insurance companies in North Carolina. Erie, Nationwide, and USAA are also near the top in terms of market share in the state. Look below at their approximate average premiums at different coverage levels in North Carolina.

Based on our table above, State Farm and North Carolina Farm Bureau have some of the cheapest home insurance in North Carolina. These numbers are averages, though; what might be the cheapest option for someone else may not be the cheapest option for you.

It can be tricky to keep track of all the different coverages and how they work into your policy. So, let’s do a sample homeowners insurance calculator for North Carolina.

For this example, let’s say the replacement cost of your dwelling is $200,000. Here’s what the average homeowners insurance in North Carolina might look like with $200,000 of dwelling coverage:

Dwelling: Your provider determines your dwelling coverage based on your home’s replacement cost, as we said earlier, so they look at materials and labor costs.

Other Structures: Your other structures coverage is usually 10% of your dwelling coverage, so ($200,000 x .10) = $20,000.

Personal Property: You can be flexible with your personal property coverage. You can choose however much you need, which is why carriers recommend you make a home inventory list to know what you have and how much it’s all worth. 

Insurers often suggest a personal property limit of 50% of your dwelling coverage as default, so ($200,000 x .50) = $100,000 in our example above.

Loss of Use: Your loss of use limit can vary based on your provider. They typically state that a loss of use limit of 20% of your dwelling coverage suffices, so ($200,000 x .20) = $40,000.

Personal Liability: Companies require at least $100,000 of liability coverage but recommend you carry more. $300,000 is a common number. You can choose how much liability coverage you want pretty freely, up to $1,000,000.

Medical Payments: Medical payments limits are flexible, too. You can often choose anything between $2,000 and $5,000. The limits are so low relatively that changing them doesn’t affect your premiums much.

North Carolina homeowners insurance rates vary due to many factors. Some of these factors will be geographically related to your location. Others will be about your property specifically, and some others will be about your history as a policyholder.

Homeowners Insurance companies in North Carolina are in the risk management business, and carriers analyze many different variables about you to measure your risk accurately. They need to know if they can afford to offer you a policy. Some of these factors are:

Earthquakes are unusual but possible in North Carolina, especially in the western part of the state. Know that homeowners insurance doesn’t cover earthquake damage. But, you may still see higher premiums in an area prone to earthquakes due to the increased risk of property damage.

Hurricanes, on the other hand, are a significant risk in North Carolina. The eastern coast that borders the Atlantic is especially vulnerable. Still, the state government reports that “all areas of the state – from coastal and sound counties to the mountains – have been impacted by hurricanes in the past 20 years.”

For this reason, you’ll very likely see higher premiums if you live in coastal areas of North Carolina. You might also see a separate deductible in your policy for hurricanes, called a hurricane deductible. Your hurricane deductible will likely be higher than your All Other Perils (AOP) deductible.

 In some especially risky locations, your carrier may not cover hurricanes, windstorms, or hail by default. You may need to get additional, separate wind and hail insurance or hurricane coverage.

No, homeowners insurance isn’t required by law in North Carolina. But, if you’ve got a mortgage on your house, your lender will require you to have a policy. Lender requirements usually state that you must insure your house for at least the mortgage cost to protect your and your lender’s investment in your property.

Most homeowners don’t have enough cash to rebuild their property and continue paying off their mortgage if their house suffers significant damage. So, lenders require homeowners to maintain homeowners insurance to handle such worst-case scenarios.

If you stop paying your home insurance premiums, your lender can force-place insurance on you. Force-placed coverage is less extensive and more expensive than standard home insurance plans you can buy yourself. Don’t let your policy get canceled due to nonpayment.

Every state regulates its insurance companies to some degree. Every provider has certain rules and regulations it needs to follow., usually regarding communications with customers about policy changes and the claims process.

For instance, North Carolina homeowners insurance laws state that your carrier should acknowledge your claim when you file one within 30 days. There’s no specific timetable for how long a claim takes, though, since every claim is different and the extent of damage and repairs can vary.

In addition, every insurer that doesn’t cover floods, earthquakes, mudflow, landslides, windstorms, or hail must notify you in writing in your policy. You’ll also find other company-specific rules and regulations on your policy pages that will vary by provider.

Getting homeowners insurance quotes in North Carolina is easy with Clovered. You can compare several policies at once to find the right plan at the right price. We’re an experienced property casualty insurance company that has helped thousands throughout the country find coverage.

If you have questions or need any help along the way, our team of licensed agents would love to assist you. We’re available by phone at 833-255-4117 during business hours, or you can email us at [email protected]. We’d be happy to assist you with your North Carolina homeowners insurance quote.

One of the best ways to find the right homeowners policy is to use an independent insurance agent in North Carolina. Independent insurance agents have region-specific knowledge, insight, and experience to help you find home insurance quotes in North Carolina.

There are two types of insurance agents. A captive agent works for a provider and will only offer coverage options from that one company. On the other hand, an independent agent isn’t tied to working with a sole carrier. Once you give them enough information, they can look around for you among several companies to find the best policy for you.

Clovered is an independent insurance agency. We partner with many of the best home insurance companies in North Carolina. If you don’t find what you’re looking for with our online quoting platform, our team of agents is ready to help you find cheap homeowners insurance in North Carolina.