Best Homeowners Insurance in South Carolina

But the state’s diversity also means that homeowners are faced with a number of potential perils not seen by many others. From hurricanes and tornadoes to flooding and possible forest fires, homeowners insurance in South Carolina is a pivotal piece to protecting your home, your family and your finances. Let’s take a look at what’s covered, what’s not covered, how to get quotes and much more.

We utilized data submitted to the South Carolina Department of Insurance​ by the largest insurance companies and found that premiums in 22 of the most populated cities in the Palmetto State average $2,256 per year for a $200,000 house and $3,544 per year for a $350,000 house.

However, many factors go into premium pricing, including your claims history, how close or far your home is from a particularly hurricane-prone part of the state and, one of the influential pieces compiled into our data, whether your home is made primarily of wood or masonry materials like concrete and brick.

As you can see from the data below, homeowners with masonry-constructed homes typically pay less for homeowners insurance premiums because those homes are typically able to withstand perils like hurricanes and fire damage more efficiently. Let’s take a look at a breakdown of premiums for both $200,000 and $350,000 homes made of frame or masonry materials.

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.

The best homeowners insurance in South Carolina is going to be a policy that includes the most in-depth coverage for your house, personal belongings and finances. You may not consider the latter when choosing a policy, but having optimal liability insurance can be the difference between your insurer footing the bill for an accident that occurs on your property or having to come out of pocket.

Homeowners insurance is broken up into six main categories, taking the names of Coverage A through Coverage F. We’ll break down all of them below and provide coverage examples of each. Let’s take a look.

One of the most important pieces of your coverage is the dwelling coverage portion. It’s responsible for repairing or rebuilding your house if it were damaged or destroyed by a covered peril. This coverage should mimic your home’s value, so those homes worth $200,000 should have $200,000 worth of dwelling coverage and homes worth $350,000 should have $350,000 worth of dwelling coverage.

Example of Dwelling Coverage: You can choose between market value or replacement cost coverage for your home’s dwelling coverage. In simplistic terms, market value coverage will repair or rebuild your home to its market value and replacement cost coverage will repair or rebuild to the exact cost of its condition before the damage.

This coverage is responsible for protecting all things structural on your property that aren’t directly connected to your home’s main structure. These are things like fences, sheds, detached garages and even satellite dishes. Default coverage is usually 10% of your home’s dwelling coverage maximum, so $200,000 homes will typically have $20,000 in other structures coverage.

Example of Other Structures Coverage: If a hurricane comes through and destroys your home’s fence and backyard shed, your policy’s other structures coverage will kick in to pay to repair or replace them.

Many people have no idea how much value they actually possess in personal belongings, and they therefore underestimate the amount of personal property coverage they need. These are things like furniture, clothes and electronics. You need enough coverage to repair or replace all your belongings if your home were destroyed by a covered peril. Having too little would leave you undercovered and having too much would mean you’re likely paying more than you should.

Many people have no idea how much value their personal belongings hold, and they therefore underestimate how much personal property coverage they need. Personal property coverage accounts for things like furniture, clothes and electronics. You need enough coverage to repair or replace all your belongings if your home were destroyed by a covered peril. Having too little personal property coverage would leave you undercovered. Having limits that are too high would mean you’re likely paying more than you should.

Example of Personal Belongings Coverage: If you sustained a kitchen fire that spread to your living room, Coverage C would be responsible for replacing the belongings that were damaged, such as kitchenware, furniture and TVs. Things connected to your home, like light fixtures, would be protected under dwelling coverage.

If that house fire from the example above were to temporarily force you to move out of your home during the repair or rebuilding process, loss of use coverage would help pick up the tab for many unexpected temporary living expenses. These are things like a hotel stay, storage facilities and pet boarding.

Example of Loss of Use Coverage: Let’s say your home sustains a kitchen fire and you have to find a place to temporarily live while it’s being repaired. Instead of moving in with family or footing the bill for an expensive hotel, this coverage would reimburse you for things like a temporary place to stay, eating out because that hotel doesn’t have a kitchen and much more.

Arguably the most underrated portion of your home insurance policy is the liability coverage. It’s responsible for paying major medical expenses and legal fees if someone was injured on your property and you were found liable. It can also pay for damage you accidentally cause to someone else’s property or expenses relating to your dog biting someone. Many policies start with a minimum of $100,000 worth of coverage, but you may be able to get up to $1 million.

Example of Liability Coverage: If you have a trampoline on your property and one of your children’s friends falls off and breaks a leg, you could be responsible for paying their medical bills. But since the incident occurred on your property, your policy’s liability coverage could foot the bill for major medical expenses like an ambulance, emergency room visit, surgery, physical therapy and even legal fees if their parents decide to sue you for long-term damages.

Similar to liability coverage, medical payments to others coverage also picks up the tab for medical expenses if someone is injured on your property. However, dissimilar to liability coverage, medical payments only cover minor medical expenses like ambulances, X-rays and physical therapy. Coverage is usually capped at $5,000 per claim.

Example of Medical Payments Coverage: If a guest in your home trips and falls down the stairs, medical payments coverage could pay for X-rays and MRIs — whether you’re liable for the injury or not. However, if you’re not liable, it’s best for you if they use their own health insurance to cover the expenses, as a home insurance claim can raise your rates substantially.

Since we’ve broken down the definition and examples of dwelling coverage, as well as the home construction type and claims history, let’s now take a look at one of the other most important pieces of the premium pricing puzzle: the age of the home.

Age of home is imperative because newer homes are typically built to withstand heavier wind events and the materials haven’t broken down as much as they have in older homes. For pricing comparison metrics, the insurance department uses two categorizations: homes that are 1 to 34 years old and homes that were built 35 years ago or more.

In the first comparison breakdown, we’ll take a look at $200,000 houses that were built between 1 and 34 years ago.

In the second comparison breakdown, we’ll take a look at $200,000 houses that were built 35 years ago or more. These homes have a higher potential for filing a claim and, therefore, face a higher premium than homes built 34 years ago or less.

Things like outdated roofs and electrical systems could lead to a roof leak or house fire claims, and older bases could lead to costly structural problems. Let’s take a look at the breakdown.

Similar to the facts we previously stated about the breakdown of $200,000 homes, homes worth $350,000 still face the same premium consideration factors with the age and construction type of the home. Let’s take a look at what homeowners can expect in yearly premiums for $350,000 houses for homes built within the past 34 years and those built more than 34 years ago.

The only difference between home insurance and property insurance in South Carolina is that home insurance relates directly to your home — such as homeowners, renters, landlord and condo insurance — while property insurance is all-encompassing, including the aforementioned policies as well as insurance for property like auto insurance, boat insurance and RV insurance.

However, when you’re buying insurance, you may either be purchasing insurance for a home or a piece of property. But you’re always going to purchase the specified type of policy, such as flood insurance, instead of the overarching “home insurance.”

There’s no such thing as “hurricane insurance.” It’s rolled into home insurance. But since much of South Carolina is prone to hurricane damage each year during the Atlantic’s hurricane season, which runs from June 1st to November 30th, policies in the Palmetto State are equipped with a special hurricane deductible.

Hurricane deductibles were put in place after the catastrophic damages caused by Hurricane Katrina in August 2005. They require homeowners to pay a percentage of their dwelling coverage, usually between 2% and 10%, as a deductible instead of a flat number if the damage was sustained due to a hurricane, named storm or any type of wind or hail incident.

The higher deductible offsets the out-of-pocket expenses for insurers and, therefore, helps keep rising home insurance rates at bay.

Since there’s no such thing as hurricane insurance, paying your homeowners insurance premiums, in effect, protects you from hurricanes. However, the lower your hurricane deductible, the more you’ll pay in premiums because that determines your out-of-pocket expenses for a hurricane claim.

Let’s say your home is damaged by a hurricane. If you have $200,000 in dwelling coverage and a 2% hurricane deductible, you’d have to pay $4,000 before your insurer would step in to pay the rest. If you have a 5% hurricane deductible, you’d have to pay $10,000 toward the claim before your insurer steps in.

The homeowner in the former example faces a lower out-of-pocket expense, which is riskier for the insurer. In that case, the risk would be offset by increasing their monthly premiums. The homeowner in the latter example has more out-of-pocket risk due to a hurricane, so their monthly premiums would likely be lower.

While there are many homeowners insurance companies in South Carolina offering policies, some of them are definitely more affordable. Since we partner with many of the state’s top carriers, our online quoting tool is the best and easiest way to find an affordable policy with great coverage.

We compare quotes from the state’s top carriers — so you don’t have to — compile the best home insurance policies in one place and then provide you with a list of options that best suit your coverage needs and budget.

Depending on the carrier you choose, you may be able to bundle home and auto insurance to save money. While the bundle savings aren’t guaranteed, policyholders can usually expect to save up to 15% on their auto insurance by bundling.

Although, your premiums still depend on a variety of factors, like whether you’ve filed any home or auto claims in the past five years, received any tickets in the past three years and many others. However, if you’d like to see how much you can save, simply ask one of our agents after you purchase your new South Carolina homeowners insurance policy.

Since we partner with the most reputable South Carolina homeowners insurance companies, we’re able to get you the best rates and the most competitive policies. Our proprietary online quoting tool is free, fast and easy to use. You can compare policies from many of your state’s top home insurers to get the best coverage at the best price. Simply enter a few details about your home to get a new policy in minutes.

Or if you’d like to speak with a real person, the easiest way to get a quote through one of our licensed, in-house agents is by calling (833) 255-4117 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. EST. You can also contact [email protected] and one of our agents will get back to you promptly.