Homeowners Insurance in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina (2024)

Those dreaded hurricanes can wreak havoc on homes, so the average cost of homeowners insurance in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is much higher than the state’s average. But many factors go into the equation when pricing premiums. Let’s take a look at everything you need to know.

The yearly average cost of homeowners insurance in North Myrtle Beach is about $2,496 for a $200,000 house and $3,857 for a $350,000 house. But premiums from a few companies — including Universal Property & Casualty (UPCIC) and Allstate — are much lower than both the city and state averages.

UPCIC has the best rates by far, even topping the list as one of the most affordable homeowners insurance policies in South Carolina. If you fit the category in the sweet spot, you can enjoy rates that will only set you back a few hundred dollars a year. Let’s take a look at what you can expect to pay in premiums each year.

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.

That aforementioned sweet spot of affordable rates comes if you haven’t filed any home insurance claims within the past 5 years and you have good to great credit. The average numbers are also based on the age of your home.

Newer constructed homes may have to meet stricter building codes than in the past, especially on the coast in North Myrtle Beach. Even if the building codes remain the same through the years, older homes deal with much more wear and tear, which leaves them more susceptible to damage from natural disasters.

Then insurance companies factor in the likelihood of damage occurring to the home’s major systems, such as the plumbing, electrical and HVAC. As the years go on and each system is used on a daily basis, the likelihood of malfunction is greater. Many insurers won’t even provide coverage for homes if those systems are 40-plus years old.

If they do, they may require homeowners to enroll in an HO-8, which is a specific policy designed to cover older homes, instead of the standard HO-3 or HO-4. Coverage may actually be more affordable for an HO-8, but it may not have as extensive coverage as its counterparts. Let’s take a look at what you can expect to pay in multiple different scenarios.

Average homeowners insurance premiums correlate similarly to $350,000 houses as they do to $200,000 houses, with UPCIC and Allstate still remaining leaders in affordable rates. While we’d like you to take into account the numbers displayed are merely averages, depending on your circumstances and claims history, there’s still a chance you could get a policy with a yearly rate below $1,000.

The construction type of your home also has an impact on how much you’ll pay for premiums. As you can see from the numbers below — and above — masonry homes slightly edge out frame homes in affordability of premiums.

That’s because masonry homes are constructed of what insurers deem as more sturdy materials, such as brick and concrete. Frame homes, on the other hand, are constructed of wood, which can be seen as more susceptible to sustaining major damage. But the premiums aren’t too different at the end of the day. Let’s have a look at an in-depth breakdown of all the numbers.

Homeowners insurance in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina covers your house, personal belongings and much more from a number of perils. Depending on the type of homeowners insurance you have, those perils can be things like hurricanes, tornadoes, water damage, house fires, vandalism and break-ins. Let’s look at the six coverage types of each policy.

Dwelling: Dwelling coverage protects the actual structure of your home and the things attached and considered vital to it. These are things like the major systems in your home (HVAC, electrical and plumbing). Coverage also extends to things like your home’s roof, the windows, doors, flooring, hot water heater.

It’s important that your home’s dwelling coverage matches, at the very least, your home’s value. So houses worth $350,000 should have at least $350,000 worth of coverage. However, since housing prices increase throughout the year, it’s recommended to insure your home for 3% over the value.

Other Structures: Other structures coverage is geared to protect any structures on your property that aren’t attached to your home, such as sheds, carports, detached garages and fencing.

The amount of coverage you receive is typically 10% of your home’s dwelling coverage, which is the amount your house is actually insured for. So homeowners with a $250,000 house may have up to $25,000 in coverage for the structures on their property if they need to file a claim for damage.

Personal Property: Personal property coverage will help protect your furniture, clothing, electronics and much more if your home is damaged or destroyed by a covered peril. It also covers high-value items like jewelry and collectibles, but in a much different fashion with lower maximums — unless you schedule them with your insurer.

To determine how much coverage you need, start a home inventory list of all your belongings and their values, noting which items you need to schedule and for how much.

Loss of Use: If a covered peril did damage or destroy your home and you’re forced to temporarily move out while it’s being repaired or rebuilt, loss of use coverage will become your best friend. It’s designed to help pay for additional living expenses incurred due to the temporary displacement.

Coverage can apply to things like a temporary rental home of equivalent value, storage fees, pet boarding and so much more.

Liability: Liability coverage is designed to help cover medical bills and legal fees if someone is injured on your property and you’re found liable, damage you cause to another home, or if your dog bites someone on or off the property.

Things like a tree falling from your yard onto your neighbor’s roof can be covered, as can incidents like your dog biting someone off your property. Coverage typically comes standard at $250,000 per claim, but high-net-worth individuals are encouraged to purchase supplementary umbrella coverage to extend their maximums.

Medical Payments: Similar to the aforementioned liability portion, medical payments to others coverage can help pay for minor medical expenses if someone is injured on your property — whether or not you’re found liable.

Contrary to popular belief, homeowners insurance doesn’t cover flooding. You’ll need a separate flood insurance policy for that. There’s good news, though. Flood insurance typically only costs a few hundred dollars per year to protect nearly everything that a home insurance policy protects.

When you consider the average cost of a flood claim is about $25,000 for just 1 inch of water damage, those premiums don’t sound like too much. The flood zones in North Myrtle Beach consist primarily of zone A, which means most of the city’s residents are at a high risk of incurring flood damage at least once during the life of a 30-year mortgage.

Depending on the zone and inherent risk, residents can either opt for flood insurance from a private carrier or through FEMA’s National Flood Insurance Program. Private insurance typically comes with much more extensive coverage, but it also comes at a higher cost. You can compare the prices of both by submitting a quote request via the form on our website.

Getting a quote for home insurance in North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina is quick and easy when you use Clovered’s online quoting tool. Simply plug in some information about your home, we’ll run the data in the background, compare rates from our many partners, and then pair you with a policy that fits your needs and your budget.

We’re always here to help. If you’d rather speak to a licensed agent on the phone, just 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].