Homeowners Insurance in Aiken, South Carolina (2024)

If you own or want to own a home in Aiken, you’ll likely need homeowners insurance to pair with your property. Home insurance is required if you have a mortgage. But even if you aren’t borrowing money, a homeowners insurance policy is a substantial safety net that can protect you and your property from things out of your control.

Keep reading to find out about some of the perks of home insurance, as well as rates you can expect to pay in the Aiken area.

Based on our list of popular providers in the city, home insurance in Aiken costs about $2,118 per year on a $200,000 house. Premiums increase to about $3,343 for a $350,000 house.

The cost of homeowners insurance in Aiken varies due to many factors. Even though Aiken is a hundred miles from the coast and far south of the Carolina Alley, hurricanes and tornadoes are still a worry in the city. 

In addition to the threat of severe weather, homeowners insurance in Aiken is influenced by the value of your house. Our list below includes home insurance premiums in Aiken for homes at two different price points.

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.

You’ll notice that rates were higher across the board on $350,000 houses when compared with the premiums for $200,000 homes. But, the extent of the increase varies. Allstate, for instance, increased $1,099, about 18%. This seems steep until you look at Foremost, which went from $7,780 to over $15,000 which is about a 93% increase.

Notably, Universal Property & Casualty was the most affordable insurer on our list at both price points. For $250,000 homes, their premiums were over $500 lower than the next lowest competitor listed. They were the cheapest option by over $700 on the list for $350,000 homes, too.

In addition to home value, construction style and age also have significant impacts on insurance rates. Take a look at the numbers below to see the effect of these two variables on home insurance in Aiken.

When accounting for construction type and age, you’ll notice a couple more trends in home insurance premiums. Masonry houses tend to have lower insurance rates than frame houses, and younger homes have lower premiums than older homes.

According to our list, homeowners insurance in Aiken for houses valued at $200,000 is roughly $250 lower, or about 12% lower, for masonry homes than for frame homes. Masonry homes tend to withstand damage from the elements better. They stand up to high winds from hurricanes and tornadoes better due to the sturdier, heavier construction. They take less damage from fires because they contain less wood. And, they won’t suffer from some wear and tear issues like dry rot as much.

Take a look at how the numbers translate for $350,000 homes in Aiken.

Homeowners insurance policies are normally divided into sections, and each section provides different coverages for you and your property. These sections are:

Dwelling coverage focuses on the structure of your home, like the roof, walls, and floors, and its permanent features, like HVAC and plumbing systems.

Other structures coverage compliments dwelling coverage by protecting the features on your property not attached to your main house, such as fences, sheds, and a detached garage if you have one.

Personal property coverage is designed for the belongings in your home. It covers your furniture, clothes, electronics, and more. It’s limited when it comes to certain high-value belongings, though, like jewelry and art, which is why scheduled personal property coverage is also available from many insurers.

Loss of use coverage comes into play if you’re forced to move out of your house due to a covered peril. Sometimes, when your insurance company needs to rebuild or repair your home after it suffers damage, you need to relocate during the construction. The costs that mount up when you temporarily move out, such as hotel stays, food, and gas, can be covered under loss of use coverage. Your insurer can reimburse you.

Liability coverage and medical payments coverage protect your finances if someone sustains an injury on your property. For example, if your dog bites someone, that person may try to sue you to cover their medical expenses. Liability coverage can cover their medical expenses and your legal fees. Medical payments coverage is used for injuries, too, but specifically for minor injuries.

Flood insurance protects your home from extensive damage from rushing water. Hurricanes, storm surges, tornadoes, and heavy rains can cause water damage not covered by homeowners insurance.

A flood insurance plan is the only way to protect your home from flooding sufficiently. Like with home insurance, your mortgage lender can require you to get flood insurance. The Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) creates flood maps for the country that classify every area based on its flood risk. If your home is in a high-risk FEMA flood zone, your lender will require you to get flood insurance.

 Aiken and its surrounding areas don’t have too many flood zones, especially if your property isn’t close to a waterway. But, that doesn’t mean floods are nothing to worry about. Some areas of Aiken have been known to flood from heavy rains. And, the National Flood Insurance Program (the largest flood insurer in the country – administered by FEMA) reports that over 25% of its flood claims are from areas outside of high-risk FEMA flood zones.

If you wish to explore your flood insurance options, we can help. We partner with the NFIP and some of the top private flood insurers in the nation, and we would love to help you get a quote. Our flood insurance quote form is quick and easy, and you’ll hear back from one of our agents as soon as possible. Or, you can chat with one immediately on the phone to learn more.

We’ve gone over a few of the most critical factors that affect home insurance rates. But, there are many more that we haven’t mentioned. Some of these are related to your decisions as a policyholder, while some are out of your control.

The amount of coverage you choose directly influences how much you pay. It sounds straightforward, but generally,  the more coverage you want, the more you’ll pay for insurance. So, if you’ve got a large house or an expensive house, you’ll probably pay higher premiums than someone with fewer, cheaper belongings or a smaller property. 

The deductible you choose can raise or lower your rates, as well. Your deductible is how much you pay when filing a claim before your insurer picks up the rest of the tab. If you have a higher deductible, meaning you’ll pay a larger percentage of the damage bill before your insurance company steps in, you’ll have lower rates. Inversely, if you opt for a lower deductible, your insurer will probably charge you higher premiums.

Also, if you opt for higher limits or purchase optional endorsements, you’ll pay more for coverage. Endorsements are add-ons to policies that give you extra coverage not included in a standard policy. Examples of endorsements include water backup coverage or added mold coverage.

The location of your property is important, too. As we alluded to earlier, the possibility of experiencing severe weather like hurricanes or tornadoes impacts premiums. The higher your risk, the more you pay. Aiken County sees tornadoes every so often, and South Carolina overall is at risk every storm season, so insurers definitely factor these in when determining premiums.

The financial state of the insurance company matters, also. It’s possible that if the company is struggling, or if they paid out a lot of claims in the past year, they may raise rates for some policyholders. At the end of the day, the insurance company is a profit-seeking business, and they can raise rates if they are short on cash.

As you might have gathered from all the information we’ve gone over, there’s a lot to consider before buying home insurance in Aiken. We’d love to help you navigate the insurance landscape. Clovered is an independent agency that operates in 19 states, including South Carolina.

We partner with many of the country’s top insurance companies, and we can help you compare quotes from them to be sure you’re getting the best deal. 

You can use our online quoting platform, or you can speak to a licensed agent on the phone by calling 833-255-4117 Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 6 p.m. You can also email us anytime at [email protected] with any questions you might have.