Best North Carolina Homeowners Insurance Agents & Brokers (2024)

Welcome to our comprehensive guide on North Carolina homeowners insurance. Discover the key to protecting your home and belongings with tailored coverage designed for North Carolina residents. The unique considerations for homeowners in the state, including coverage options, policy features, and tips for selecting the best insurance provider.

• The average cost of North Carolina homeowners insurance on a $250,000 policy is $150 per month
• Travelers and Amica offer the most affordable home insurance rates in North Carolina, but Allstate offers the most discounts
• If you live on the coast, you may be considered part of the catastrophic insurance (CAT) market and have to shop with high-risk insurance companies

Don’t leave the security of your home to chance. Enter your ZIP code below to compare rates from top insurance providers in North Carolina and find the homeowners insurance policy that offers the perfect blend of coverage and affordability.

How much does North Carolina homeowners insurance cost?

As you shop for homeowners insurance, consider where you live in the state and your property’s value. The average home value in North Carolina is between $180,000 and $305,000, and you can expect to pay higher rates if you live on the coast.

A North Carolina home insurance policy with $250,000 in dwelling coverage will cost around $150 per month. 

However, your home’s age and any renovations you may have done will also impact your North Carolina homeowners insurance rates. For example, updating an older home’s plumbing and electrical systems will lower your rates, but installing an in-ground pool can raise them.

Depending on where you live in North Carolina, you may also want to add specialty coverages. Hurricane and flood insurance endorsements can add hundreds of dollars to your annual home insurance rates but will save you thousands in case of natural disasters. If you live on the coast, you will want to add hurricane insurance. 

So shop around and compare multiple companies before you buy to guarantee you aren’t overpaying for coverage.

What are the best home insurance companies in North Carolina?

You have many free resources to help you find the best homeowners insurance company in North Carolina. Start here with this table of the most popular home insurance insurers in the state:

Travelers and Amica offer the cheapest home insurance quotes in North Carolina, but there’s more to your insurance company than price. You want to shop with insurers who have the financial strength to pay out your claims and the customer service to deliver on your policy’s terms. 

We used A.M. Best to compare each company’s financial strength and J.D. Power to assess each insurer’s customer service ratings. J.D. Power releases a home insurance study every year ranking companies based on customer service, product quality, and pricing on a scale of 0 to 1,000.

Travelers earned the highest financial rating from A.M. Best, but Amica has the highest score from J.D. Power. This means that customers consider Amica to have better customer service and product selection. And, with an A+ rating from A.M. Best, Amica is also well-equipped to pay out on any of your home insurance claims. 

How to Save Money on North Carolina Homeowners Insurance

While Travelers and Amica offer the most affordable average rates, you may be able to get a better price somewhere else after you ask about home insurance discounts.

Most insurance companies offer discounts to loyal customers who buy multiple policies and make payments on time. You can also earn discounts when buying a new home or installing additional home security systems to your current residence. 

Take a look at the table below to see which companies offer the most home insurance discounts in North Carolina:

Almost all of these companies offer a home insurance discount when you bundle multiple policies, but you only earn loyalty and new home discounts with a few. 

The savings you earn from discounts should influence where you buy North Carolina homeowners insurance, so compare multiple local companies to see which offers the best rates.

What does homeowners insurance cover in North Carolina?

Home insurance policies typically protect your home against the most common risks, including fire, theft, freezing, certain water damages, wind, and hail. Your policy will also extend coverage to other structures and personal property.

In general, the average homeowners insurance in North Carolina will cover:

• Dwelling. This includes your home’s main structure and any additions.
• Other structures. Other structures are any artificial constructions on the property which aren’t connected to the primary dwelling, including pool houses, mother-in-law apartments, and garages. 
• Personal property. Personal property includes any of your possessions, such as jewelry, art, electronics, furniture, and appliances.
• Loss of use. This will reimburse you for costs incurred while you are out of your home or part of your home during repairs after a claim.
• Liability. Your policy covers medical costs for those injured on your property.

Read your policy carefully because many insurance companies have limitations on how much coverage they will provide. For example, you may consider adding contents insurance to your policy if you own expensive pieces not covered by a standard policy.

Does North Carolina require specialty home insurance coverage?

No, North Carolina homeowners insurance laws do not require property owners to carry specialty insurance. However, it can be in your best interest to buy flood insurance to protect your home if you live on the coast.

North Carolina ranks in the top 10 states most at risk for storm surge and hurricane damages. Over 200,000 homes in North Carolina are at-risk for Category 4 and 5 hurricanes, and without the right specialty insurance, you will pay out of pocket to fix your home after a storm.

Standard homeowners insurance does not include coverage for floods, but the hail and windstorm part of your policy will cover other types of hurricane damage. However, you may not be eligible for a standard policy if you own coastal properties. 

Coastal properties face expensive repairs when damaged during a tropical storm or hurricane, and many standard insurance companies cannot afford that risk. If you cannot afford to shop with high-risk home insurance companies, you can use the North Carolina Coastal Property Insurance Pool as a last resort for affordable homeowners insurance. 

Further, if you own a home business, a standard policy will not apply to any of your business losses should you lose your home. You will need to buy home-based business insurance to protect all parts of your property.

North Carolina Homeowners Insurance: What You Need to Know

The easiest way to find cheap North Carolina homeowners insurance is to live further inland. 

Homeowners insurance in Asheville, North Carolina, will be much cheaper than home insurance rates in coastal cities like Wilmington or Outer Banks.

Travelers and Amica offer the most affordable home insurance quotes in North Carolina, and Amica is one of the highest-ranked companies for customer service. 

However, if you live or own property in any of the 19 counties on the Atlantic Coast, you will have to shop with high-risk insurance companies to find the additional wind and hail coverages you need to protect your home.

To learn more about what North Carolina Homeowners Insurance requires, contact the state Department of Insurance at 325 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, North Carolina, or call them toll-free at 855-408-1212.