It has one of the lowest automobile ownership in the country with 670 cars per capita. It is following the national averages in terms of number of Uninsured Motorists at 14% and living expenses. Maintaining the middle ground may sound to be all right but when these are for negative results you would hope to do a bit better. Let’s have a look at how it fares in other areas.
North Carolina has one of the cheapest rates across the US with $625 average cost of car insurance. The same remains to hold when motorists want to buy full coverage, as the average is $987 and still one of the lowest in the country. In the light of these figures, it appears Tar Heel State has a highly competitive market, lower auto crimes and accidents and general repair costs are reasonable.
North Carolina Automobile Insurance Laws
Minimum requirements are outlined in the Department of Insurance website and they are;
- $100,000 for bodily injury or death per person.
- $300,000 total for bodily injury or death per accident.
- $50,000 for property damage.
North Carolina has one of the highest minimum Liability requirements in the US. It is as much as 10 times more than some of the others that have higher costs. This is a great example to show that buying much larger coverage than the minimum required is not going to cost you a lot more. The difference in premium would be minimal between buying a Liability only auto insurance and full coverage. This goes to show that you shouldn’t be worried about seeking the level of protection you want. You shouldn’t give up after an expensive quote and start chopping and changing.
North Carolinians should feel lucky that it is enforcing much higher liability limits. Some of states have pretty low requirements that are totally insufficient in today’s economy. $50,000 can only buy you a mid-range automobile that seeing liability limits less than this figure is actually unrealistic.
Thankfully, most car insurance policies sold offer much larger limits and most motorists go for a decent level of coverage instead of sticking with the lowest they can buy. Even if you want it just to drive legally you should check prices for higher liability limits to see how much is the premium difference. You could probably get protected a lot better if you could spend only a few bucks more. Looking at figures of drivers with no policy, it is not hard to see that saying it is much harder than doing it. But you must try and see because you lose nothing by getting a few quotes, except a few minutes of time.
There are many myths and misunderstandings in the market. A good independent broker can answer any questions you may have and help you out in finding the best deal. More affordable policies are available online, too. There are many comparison websites just like this one that are giving quotes 24 hours a day and every day.
Vehicle Insurance Cost In North Carolina
As mentioned earlier, the liability limits here are pretty decent and yet the Old North State has one of the lowest auto insurance rates in the US. Average cost is $625 and it is $216 less than the US average. This is the median cost per vehicle. You can also get cheap full coverage quotes here at about $987. Again, this is $338 less than the national average.
Having low premiums shouldn’t be used as an excuse for forgoing the process of shopping around and finding out what others offer in the area. Keep this in mind when the next renewal comes around. Majority of the notices will come weeks in advance. This is ample time when you only need a couple of hours to check the competitiveness of it. You can see if there are lower prices or better coverage with a quick search online.
Affordable Car Insurers in North Carolina
Finding them is essentially the starting point of getting the best deal because prices can fluctuate among them substantially. The competition seems to be a lot tighter here than many other states. Yet, the difference between the cheapest and most expensive quote can be twice. Looking at the median costs this could mean at least over $600 savings when you find the most competitive one. So, you should always get automobile insurance quotes from various companies to ensure you get good value for money. Below names are known to be the cheapest and therefore a good starting point in that direction.
- GEICO, $435
- Auto-Owners, $474
- NC Farm Bureau, $597
And the three most expensive auto insurers are Safeco, MetLife, and Allstate, according to ValuePenguin. So, you now know which ones to definitely check and which ones you may not bother with. There may also be others that are doing well recently in the area that it is advisable to get a few more.
According to price analyses by various companies, median prices in Tar Heel state don’t show huge variations across different cities and towns. There doesn’t appear to be a city with seriously high rates in comparison to the median figure. The most expensive city is only $150 more and the cheapest one is only $80 less than the state average. The cities with higher rates are Charlotte, Jacksonville and the highest in Fayetteville.
It is an important point to note that you may pay a little bit less or a lot more if you have a bad driving history, recent claims and terrible credit score. So, use these figures as guidance and try to get affordable vehicle insurance no matter how adverse the situation is.
And you can make the most of discounts by learning how to save money on that post. There are so many discounts but only few companies are generous with the number and size of them. Therefore, don’t think that you can get a couple of quotes and be done with searching. You should at least get 5 and 10 with a bad driving record if you really want to find good coverage at an affordable price.