Best Cheap Home Insurance Companies in North Carolina

The typical price of homeowners insurance in North Carolina is $1,800 per year. Besides Travelers, we also found cheaper-than-average rates from North Carolina Farm Bureau and State Farm.

A good homeowners insurance policy should be affordable, reliable and broad enough for your needs. To find out which insurers offer the best coverage for homeowners in North Carolina, we gathered thousands of home insurance quotes and sifted through policy details from dozens of companies.

Best cheap home insurance in North Carolina

Cheapest options for homeowners insurance in North Carolina

That makes Travelers 59% less expensive than the average insurer statewide, and $222 per year less expensive than the second-cheapest option, North Carolina Farm Bureau.

Best for most people: Travelers

Travelers stands out as the best home insurance option in North Carolina for the typical homeowner. Travelers has the best prices in the state. It also offers a variety of useful upgrades for homeowners to add to their policies, such as protection for water backup or replacement cost coverage for their belongings.

Even without upgrades, homeowners insurance with Travelers comes with enough protection for most people at a price that's hard to beat. The company's average rate of $734 per year is the lowest in North Carolina. Travelers' list of discounts — like a new homebuyer discount and a green home discount — allows homeowners to lower their prices even further.

However, Travelers customer service has mixed reviews. Although it gets fewer customer complaints than other insurers of the same size according to the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), Travelers earned a poor customer satisfaction score from J.D. Power. That means homeowners can probably find a better customer service experience elsewhere.

Best-rated: North Carolina Farm Bureau

For home insurance customers who prioritize great service, while still valuing an affordable rate, we recommend North Carolina Farm Bureau. Although it's the second-largest homeowners insurance provider in the state, Farm Bureau has a network of agents who are truly local residents. This puts the company in a better position to provide coverage tailored to match your local needs.

Farm Bureau is the second-cheapest insurer statewide. Its average price of $956 per year is 47% less than the typical price in North Carolina overall. However, Farm Bureau doesn't have an online quote tool, which means homeowners will have to speak to an agent to compare rates.

North Carolina Farm Bureau has an A.M. Best financial strength rating of "A" (excellent). This means it has an excellent financial ability to pay out claims, even in times of high claim demand, such as after a hurricane.

Best for military families: USAA

USAA should be a familiar name to almost anyone with a connection to the armed forces — with good reason. USAA's stellar word-of-mouth reputation has a real basis in the numbers. It has an impressively low Complaint Index from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC). Plus, an A.M. Best financial strength rating of A++ means that it's very unlikely to default on its claim payments.

Besides all these signs of quality service, USAA homeowners insurance comes with protections for damaged uniforms and replacement cost coverage — a useful way to replace your lost property for its full value. However, USAA is not the most affordable option In North Carolina. The average annual rate for a standard HO-3 policy is $1,775, which is slightly cheaper than the statewide average of $1,800.

USAA is only available to people who are associated with the U.S. military, or who have a current or former USAA member in their family. As long as you meet the eligibility requirements, we recommend USAA as a top option for home insurance and any other financial services you may need, from deposit accounts to loans.

Best homeowners insurance companies in North Carolina

The best-rated homeowners insurance companies in North Carolina are Farm Bureau and USAA. Both insurance companies earned perfect scores in our national analysis of home insurance companies. Auto-Owners, Erie and State Farm were also highly ranked.

Biggest home insurance risks in North Carolina

Hurricanes are the biggest homeowners insurance concern for any state on the Atlantic Seaboard, and North Carolina is no exception. Each year, homes in the Tar Heel State suffer millions of dollars in damage from high winds and flooding. However, lightning strikes also cause major losses to North Carolina homeowners.

To keep your property financially protected in any event, you need to understand the average costs of these risks — as well as the rules that home insurers follow when paying for them.

Hurricanes and flood insurance in North Carolina

Hurricanes and tropical storms are common occurrences in North Carolina, with an average of two tropical storms per year and a hurricane about every three years. Because hurricanes and floods can be devastating one year and nonexistent the next, the best policy is to have active insurance coverage at all times.

Wind damage from hurricanes and storms is almost always covered as part of your standard homeowners insurance. This includes things like shingles falling off the roof and trees being uprooted. However, you should always confirm this by reading your coverage details. If you live in an area that insurers see as high-risk, they may exclude wind damage from your base policy and require you to buy it as an extra coverage.

Flood damage, on the other hand, is never covered by standard home insurance. Floods can be extremely expensive for insurers when they occur, striking thousands of insured properties at the same time. If you're in a high-risk flood zone, you should consider buying a separate flood insurance policy through the government-sponsored National Flood Insurance Program (NFIP) or a private flood insurer.

Lightning strikes in North Carolina

Lightning strikes on private property are also responsible for thousands of claims in North Carolina every year.

On average, insurance claims involving lightning cost North Carolina homeowners just over $11,500 per incident. The most serious incidents involve fires started by a lightning strike, while the most common are usually ground surges that overload electronics and appliances plugged into the home.

Homeowners insurance covers most kinds of damage that lightning can inflict on your property. However, the amount you actually get from insurance for lightning-related losses depends on your ability to prove the cause of damage. This can be easier for fires or stricken trees than for ground surges.

North Carolina home insurance rates by city

By contrast, the cheapest city for homeowners insurance in the state is Hayesville, where an equivalent policy costs just $843 per year.

The cost of homeowners insurance varies depending on where you live. For example, you will likely pay more for coverage if your home is near the coast. That's because it's susceptible to tropical storms, hurricanes and flooding.

If you're curious how North Carolina's rates compare with home insurance rates in the rest of the country, you should start by understanding the state's unique rate-setting process. While most other states require insurance companies to file proposed rate changes on an individual basis, the North Carolina Rate Bureau (NCRB) fulfills that function in the Tar Heel State. The NCRB represents all North Carolina property insurers and proposes annual rate changes (almost always increases) that must be approved by the state's Department of Insurance.

Methodology

Our survey of home insurance quotes in North Carolina included estimates from eight of the state's largest insurers. For each company, we collected quotes from every ZIP code in the state. The sample property we used in all quotes was built in 1985 and insured to $183,000 — the median age and value of owner-occupied homes in North Carolina.

The specific insurers we covered included:

To determine the best home insurance companies in North Carolina, we used data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners, J.D. Power and A.M. Best, alongside internal research and analysis.

Our analysis used insurance rate data from Quadrant Information Services. We publicly sourced these rates from insurer filings, which means they should only be used for comparative purposes. Rates you request for your own coverage may be different.