Best Home Insurance Rates In North Carolina

Compare Home Insurance In North Carolina

Tuesday, July 24 2018 By Jennifer Cramer

North Carolina is the birthplace of John Coltrane, Nina Simone, President Andrew Jackson, Clay Aiken, James Taylor, Dale Earnhardt, Jr. and more. The Tar Heel State is home to two of the ten fastest-growing cities in the country, Raleigh, and Charlotte. However, the state where the Wright Brothers flew the first airplane is home to a number of homeowners insurance hazards as well.

Average North Carolina Homeowners Insurance Rates

How much is home insurance in North Carolina? Homeowners insurance premiums in North Carolina are slightly lower than the rest of the country. The average cost of homeowners insurance in the state of North Carolina was $1,075. That's not much lower than the national average of $1,173. There are 25 states with higher average home insurance rates than North Carolina.

North Carolina Average Annual Homeowners Insurance Rates

	2013	2014	2015
North Carolina Annual Average	$1,008	$1,056	$1,075
North Carolina Price Per Month	$84	$88	$89
US Annual Average	$1,096	$1,132	$1,1734
US Cost Per Month	$91	$94	$97
National Rank	23	23	26
Source: https://www.iii.org/fact-statistic/facts-statistics-homeowners-and-renters-insurance

The graph below shows the change in average North Carolina home insurance rates from 2011 to 2015, the most recent year the data is available. According to the III, North Carolina homeowners insurance rates increased from $869 in 2011 to $1,075 in 2015, a jump of $206 dollars, or 23.71 percent.

Choosing a homeowners insurance company in North Carolina should be easier. Actually, it’s already easy. The key to finding the best rates is to get a homeowners insurance quotes comparison in North Carolina from multiple companies.

Best Home Insurance Companies in North Carolina

Most Popular Insurance Companies

Last year, these were the 10 most common home insurance companies reported by QuoteWizard users living in the state of North Carolina. Out of the 24,282 North Carolina homeowners that used QuoteWizard to request insurance quotes last year, 1,574 had no home insurance.

Best Homeowners Insurance Companies

The above list shows North Carolina’s most popular home insurers according to our users. But popular doesn’t always mean best.

Our study on the Best Homeowners Insurance Companies focuses on top of the line companies. In no particular order, these companies stand out among the rest:

North Carolina Home Insurance Company Market Share

Source: Insurance Information Institute

Rank	Company	Financial Rating	Market Share
1	Nationwide Mutual	A+	13.3%
2	NC Farm Bureau Mutual Insurance	A	12.8%
3	Allstate	A+	7.5%
4	USAA Insurance	A++	6.5%
5	Erie Insurance	A+	5.1%
6	Liberty Mutual	A	4.7%
7	Travelers Companies	A+	3.4%
8	Auto-Owners Insurance	A++	2.8%
9	Farmers Insurance	A+	2.3%

Home Insurance Rate Factors

Many different factors come into play when insurance companies calculate the cost of homeowners insurance. Some, like the age of your home, are within your control. Others, like crime rates or natural disasters, are beyond your control. Here are some of the factors that affect the cost of homeowners insurance in North Carolina.

Average Home Listing Prices

Home prices can greatly affect the cost of insurance in any given state. A higher average home price generally means higher premiums in that state. For North Carolina, the average listing price is $255,470 as of July 2015, slightly lower than the national average of $284,748.

Average Burglary Rates

Burglary is a serious and sometimes violent property crime. States with higher average burglary rates generally have higher average home insurance premiums. That's because the likelihood that someone will need to file a claim is higher. In 2013, North Carolina’s average burglary rate was 921.0 per 100,000 people. That's much higher than the national average of 610.0 per 100,000.

States with more police per capita tend to be safer than states with fewer policemen and women. In North Carolina, there are 29.1 law enforcement personnel per 100,000 total citizens. This is slightly lower than the national median of 32 per 100,000.

Home Insurance Hazards

Climate-wise, North Carolina is split into three regions, east, central, and west. The far west side of North Carolina contains the Appalachian Mountains, which block the state from being hit by Midwestern storms. On the west end, the Atlantic Ocean plays a big role in moderating weather. Because of this variability in temperature and precipitation, homeowners insurance hazards are different in different parts of the state. While winters are generally mild throughout, recent years have brought a polar vortex and abnormally freezing cold temperatures.

Hot and wet summers: Though large variety exists in North Carolina’s climate, hot and humid summers are present throughout the state. Central and eastern regions have average high temperatures around 80 degrees as early as May, and as late as September. July is the hottest month throughout the state. In the mountains, average highs are about 85 degrees. In the large central region, known as the Piedmont, high temperatures are about 90 degrees. And, on the east, coastal side, highs are slightly higher, around 92 degrees.

Humidity also plays a big role in North Carolina summers. August is particularly humid, when the entire state has humidity around 90%. When heat and humidity combine, the temperature feels even hotter. This effect calculated using the heat index, a table that calculates how hot it really feels. For example, if it’s 90 degrees with 90% humidity, it really feels like 122 degrees. That's because the human body is not able to cool itself as effectively. Extreme heat such as this can be a serious hazard, especially to young children and adults over 65. It can also cause damage to your home, mostly because of possible mold and mildew development.

Thunderstorms: Summer is thunderstorm season in North Carolina. July is the wettest month of the year. And most places average half of days in July with rain, usually in the form of thunderstorms. Raleigh, North Carolina is ranked the #10 city in the US for days of thunderstorm activity, with 13.2 days per year. These thunderstorms bring heavy rains, strong winds, lightning, flash floods, sometimes hail, and can even produce tornadoes. It is important to note that the only way to obtain flood insurance is through the National Flood Insurance Program. Learn more about the NFIP here.

Tornadoes: According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, North Carolina averages 14 tornadoes per year. And they're some of the strongest tornadoes in the country. In 2012, the National Weather Service ranked North Carolina the #16 most tornado-prone state. Tornadoes are the most violent type of storm, and often spawn from other storms, such as thunderstorms. Even weak tornadoes can cause serious damage to buildings, trees, and cars. Strong tornadoes have winds over 100 mph, travel for miles before slowing down, and can tear buildings from their foundations and flip over cars. The average annual cost of these violent storms exceeds $5 million in North Carolina.

Hurricanes: Sitting on the Atlantic Coast, North Carolina is no stranger to hurricanes. According to NOAA, North Carolina has been hit by 51 hurricanes, including 12 that are considered “major hurricanes,” meaning category 3 or above. Hurricanes can completely devastate whole towns at a time. They bring with them extreme winds, heavy rains, flood, and tornadoes. These storms can force people to evacuate their homes, cause power outages and consequently spread disease. They can destroy personal property, infrastructure, and thus are extremely costly: hurricanes cost the US about $5 billion every year in damage.

North Carolina Office of the Insurance Commissioner

Website:

Homepage

Insurance Commissioner:

Mike Causey

Insurance Hotline:

(855) 408 – 1212

Office Hours:

Monday - Friday
8:00 am to 5:00 pm

File a Consumer Insurance Complaint

Complaint Page

Sources:

• A.M. Best Insurance Carrier Ratings
• Insurance Information Institute – Home Insurance Market Share in North Carolina
• NAIC--Home Insurance Market Share in North Carolina
• Average Home Insurance Rates in North Carolina
• Average Home Listing Price in North Carolina

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