Car Insurance Quotes North Carolina

Cheap Car Insurance in the Tar Heel State

North Carolina has around 7.4 million licensed drivers on the road. Sounds like quite a bit, doesn’t it? Whether these drivers are new or seasoned, it stands to reason that auto accidents happen every day – statistics support most of us have been in one.

Without the right auto insurance, an accident can be a serious problem you’re not prepared for. That’s why at Insurance Geek, we connect our customers with the best possible North Carolina auto insurance rates online. We’re dedicated to helping people just like you find the best, cheapest car insurance quotes in North Carolina that fit their specific needs and situation.

Before you find affordable car insurance in North Carolina, check out the terms you should know before you obtain your insurance policy, as well as the information on how much car insurance coverage you’ll need to protect you and your family adequately.

North Carolina Car Insurance Minimum Required Coverage

Below, you’ll find a breakdown of North Carolina minimum car insurance coverage protections.

Most states require bodily injury liability (BI) and property damage liability protection at minimum coverage, and the Tar Heel State is no different. However, we do recommend higher coverage limits and full coverage.

For starters, we recommend $100,000 BI (bodily injury), $300,000 BI/accident, and PD coverage up to $100,000.

Bodily injury liability – $30,000 person/$60,000 accident minimum coverage

If someone else is injured due to a result of an accident with you, you’re protected by this coverage in your insurance policy. You’re protected if you hit someone else while driving, whether they’re in a car or not. This coverage applies to anyone on your policy or those who drive your vehicle with your permission.

Property damage liability – $25,000/accident minimum coverage

The North Carolina property damage minimum is $25,000. It’s best to have at least $100,000 in property damage coverage in North Carolina. As you can imagine, it’s difficult to replace a new, higher-end car with a $25,000 coverage amount. The right North Carolina auto insurance protection is about making sure you aren’t stuck in a difficult, lengthy legal process or a costly liability – not just getting out on the road.  

How Much Will I Pay for Auto Insurance in North Carolina?

The statewide average for auto insurance in North Carolina is $650 a year – but you need to take other factors into account to determine your insurance rates.

Here’s what to pay attention to when you’re getting an auto policy:

Age Groups

Young drivers might get higher insurance rates than other North Carolina drivers because they are considered to be inexperienced on the road. In addition to young drivers, under this category fall the drivers who have obtained their driver’s license recently, regardless of their age.

Driving Records

Insurance companies love to reward good drivers with a lower premium because they acknowledge that there will probably be less need for insurance claims. So, a clean driving record (no recent car accidents, a citation, or a speeding ticket) will be helpful if you want to find cheap coverage auto insurance in North Carolina.

Credit Score

Insurance companies will also have a look into your financial responsibility represented by your credit rating. A good credit score will earn you lower rates, while a poor credit score may get in the way. However, this does not mean that North Carolina drivers with a poor credit rating cannot get affordable insurance. We generate free quotes from multiple car insurance companies so that you can find cheap car insurance in North Carolina.

Your Vehicle

The cost of your auto insurance will also largely depend on your vehicle. What is important to take into account includes:

  • Year of the make
  • Model
  • Color
  • Engine power
  • Mileage, and more.

For instance, owners of sportscars with more powerful engines will get a higher premium because they are associated with faster driving.

Location

Because North Carolina areas like Raleigh or Charlotte are more densely populated with more drivers, the potential for increased premiums exists. Expect that in metro areas, depending on your personal situation, it may cost a little more to get you covered.

Some of the largest cities we write car insurance in North Carolina include:

  • Charlotte
  • Raleigh-Durham
  • Asheville
  • Winston-Salem
  • Fayetteville
  • Cary
  • Greensboro
  • Wilmington

Car Insurance Company

Your average rate will also vary with the insurance company you choose. To help you decide which insurance company you should trust and which one has the best deal for you, we allow you to compare instant online NC auto insurance quotes on this page. The best of all, it’s free! You just need to enter your most basic info, and we’ll get you the quotes.

Discounts

When getting coverage in North Carolina, you can qualify for different sorts of car insurance discounts, even if you have a poor credit score. Some of them include good student discounts and veteran discounts.

You can also save money if you can demonstrate a clean driving record (so if you’ve been accident-free) or if you bundle different insurance products with the same insurer (for example,  life and home insurance policies).

Get Cheapest North Carolina Car Insurance Quotes

We’ve come up with a way to enable our clients to get the cheapest car insurance in North Carolina, considering that it’s quite difficult to get an estimate of how much your auto insurance costs.

To compare quotes, all you need to do is to enter your most basic info into our quote calculator. It won’t take you longer than 60 seconds to fill in your data.

Then, we will contact our carriers that include Nationwide and Safeco to get you free quotes. All the following companies are approved by the North Carolina Department of Insurance.

We will only use your info to find you affordable car insurance; rest assured that we will not use it to make boring follow-up calls or spam your inbox.

One company can handle multiple insurance and financial products. For instance, Nationwide offers banking services and financial plannings in addition to a wide assortment of insurance policies.

Therefore, make sure to tell us all your needs so that we can find you the best deal. A licensed insurance agent – or, as we like to call them – an Insurance Geek – will guide you through the shopping process and help you find the products that are tailored to your specific case.

Can I Get a Discount?

Carriers truly want to give you discounts, and you may see a variety of discounts depending on what carrier you’re going with. Some of the following companies who are our carriers have great deals. For instance, it’s very likely that you have seen Progressive commercials on television advertising a safe driving tool, or Allstate protection offering accident forgiveness if you haven’t had an accident or are a safe driver over a period of years.

What carriers are looking to reward is loyalty. Whether that means you are bundling by opening up different lines of insurance in North Carolina with the same carrier (e.g., life and home insurance in addition to car insurance), you’ve been with the company for a number of years, or you’re the child of a parent who’s been with the same company for several years, or whether you insure multiple cars in your household, loyalty matters.

Carriers also love giving discounts to students, members of the military, and seniors. If your car doesn’t have any accidents in its history or has low mileage, you may also get a discount for this.

Finally, your premium may be lower if you make your car safer by purchasing anti-theft devices, running lights, or other types of devices that will increase the safety of the car.

What Does Car Insurance in North Carolina Include?

North Carolina highways

Coverage levels vary, and what we consider full coverage is definitely not the same as getting only the state minimums.

Other coverage examples:

Medical liability/PIP (Personal Injury Protection)

Medical liability or PIP covers injuries that happen to passengers in your car or yourself. This part of your auto insurance coverage thus aids you as a sort of personal health insurance for accidents on the road. It can also account for the cases where you or your passengers are unable to work for a certain period due to health issues that result from an accident, so it can cover the lost wages.

Uninsured and underinsured 

Underinsured motorist coverage auto policy pays when you encounter a driver who has some amount of liability coverage, but not enough to pay for all the medical bills you need to pay. Similarly, uninsured coverage is there if the other party isn’t insured at all.

It can be quite a nightmare to deal with a hit and run. We all know many drivers flee scenes because they are uninsured or underinsured. And the court process can get quite tedious and oftentimes results in wasted time if there’s not enough evidence. This coverage protects you from damage or medical expenses in this type of situation, even if you’re on foot.

Collision coverage

Collision will protect you if you should happen to hit a pothole, run into something like a tree or fence, etc. Collision is basically an extension of your basic policy, it’s not too expensive, but it can prove to be very valuable. No matter how careful you are, things like these can happen due to poor driving conditions and other drivers. The replacement or repair cost can get quite expensive, so adding collision in your full coverage is highly recommended.

Comprehensive

Comprehensive coverage will take care of everything else having to do with your vehicle. If your windshield gets broken, and you need to get it fixed after paying your deductible, comprehensive covers this. Comprehensive will also cover the cost of items stolen from your vehicle if there is a break-in. We see a plethora of insurance claims precisely under the comprehensive category, so you should definitely consider adding it to your full coverage car insurance.

Bodily injury liability

BI is obligatory in North Carolina to get you legally on the road. This is auto insurance coverage in your car insurance policy that pays for the medical bills of the other party in an at-fault accident. It’s good to combine BI with PIP mentioned above because a liability-only policy will not cover your and your passengers’ medical bills.

Property damage liability insurance

This part of your insurance policy in North Carolina reimburses the expenses you face if you cause damage to another driver’s vehicle in an at-fault accident, and it’s mandatory to obtain it.

How much Coverage Car Insurance Should I Get in NC?

There’s a difference between the minimum coverage you need to have to be able to drive legally and full coverage car insurance that will really protect you under any circumstances.

In other words, although state minimums may give you enough coverage to get on the road legally, they are not always going to cover you in the event of an accident. Particularly when it’s a nasty accident involving several cars, and you’re at fault, only having the minimums could leave you deeply out of pocket for some major expenses, including replacing other people’s property and bodily injury coverage claims.

We strongly encourage you to follow what we call the 100/300/100 rule of thumb – that’s $100,000 in bodily injury protection with a maximum of $300,000 per accident and $100,000 in property damage liability protection. Normally this is more than enough to cover our clients in the event of serious accidents.

FAQ: North Carolina Car Insurance

Q: What car insurance companies have the cheapest car insurance in North Carolina?

A: Out of all the carriers on the market, the following companies have the most affordable insurance products: Nationwide and Safeco. They also have excellent customer service and a lot of opportunities for saving up via discounts. That said, we are also partnered with other companies that may have a better deal for you. To compare their offer, all you need to do is enter some basic info into our quote calculator on this page, and you’ll get instant free quotes for North Carolina auto insurance from multiple companies.

Q: What is the average cost of car insurance in North Carolina?

A: In North Carolina, average premiums are around $650 a year, one of the lowest premiums nationally. However, this doesn’t mean that’s the price you will pay, as premiums vary greatly. Your North Carolina auto insurance premiums are determined by a variety of factors, including: driver’s age, recent accidents or citations, age, make and model of your vehicle – as well as color, anti-theft devices or deterrents like etched glass, safety rating, your safe driving record over time, bundle offerings home insurance

Q: If I get a ticket, does it matter?

A: It does matter. Although accident forgiveness is a concept with some carriers, this isn’t the case if your record is dotted with citations and accidents. Carriers want to know you’re able to drive responsibly all the time, and even one accident can seriously affect your rates. Likewise, a ticket can make your premiums go up, depending on the citation and the situation. The number of accidents you get into overtime will absolutely make your premiums go up, so it’s integral to ensure that you have the right kind of insurance protection and that you are a responsible driver at all times.

Calculate North Carolina Auto Insurance Rates

North Carolina Raleigh downtown parked cars

Ready to get the cheapest North Carolina auto insurance?

We can give you quotes from several different carriers, and we love connecting you with the top possible car insurance quotes in North Carolina for you and your entire household. Take a look at our quote tool, fill it out to get a variety of free quotes from different carriers, and let us connect you with the best possible North Carolina policy as quickly as possible.

A licensed agent will help you with any further inquiries you may have, and we can also guide you through the shopping process if you decide to purchase insurance with us.

We’re excited to help you out – so contact us today and find the best options for you and your family!