North Carolina Auto Insurance
North Carolina rewrote its auto insurance rules on July 1, 2025. Here's what changed, what you have to carry, and how we find the right company for your car.
North Carolina rewrote its auto insurance rules on July 1, 2025. Here's what changed, what you have to carry, and how we find the right company for your car.
Higher minimums. Liability minimums went from 30/60/25 to 50/100/50. If your policy renewed after July 1, 2025, it was raised automatically, and that's part of why many renewals went up.
Underinsured motorist coverage is built in. Every new or renewed policy now includes it. It pays when the at-fault driver's insurance runs out before your injuries are paid. The law also changed how it's calculated: it now looks at your total damages, and it allows combining the highest limit available under each policy.
Longer surcharges. A driver first licensed after July 1, 2025, carries the inexperienced driver surcharge for 8 years instead of 3. A conviction worth 4 or more Safe Driver Incentive Plan points stays on the rate for 5 years instead of 3, and speeding tickets and Prayers for Judgment Continued now look back 5 years.
The practical result: a ticket or a teen driver costs more, for longer, than it did two years ago. Shopping matters more because companies treat the same record differently.
North Carolina is one of the few states that still follows contributory negligence. If a court finds you even 1% at fault, you may not recover from the other driver at all. That makes your own coverage, especially medical payments, uninsured and underinsured motorist, and collision, the coverage that actually pays you.
The other side of it: if you cause a serious crash, $50,000 per person doesn't go far against a hospital stay. Anything over your limit can come after your savings and your wages. Most of the families we insure carry 100/300/100 or more, plus an umbrella.
Pays for injuries and damage you cause others. Minimum 50/100/50; we usually recommend more.
Pays you when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough.
Pays medical bills for you and your passengers no matter who's at fault, which matters more in a contributory negligence state.
Repairs or replaces your car after a crash, theft, hail, fallen tree or flood.
Keeps you moving while the car is in the shop.
Liability above your auto and home, from $1 million.
We also write motorcycles, RVs, golf carts and classic cars.
For policies written or renewed on or after July 1, 2025: $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 per accident and $50,000 property damage, with underinsured motorist coverage included.
Higher required minimums, built-in underinsured motorist coverage and longer surcharge periods all took effect at renewal. Your driving record, your car and your company's own rate changes also play a part.
Under the 2025 changes, speeding convictions and Prayers for Judgment Continued look back 5 years instead of 3.
It's the North Carolina rule that if you're even slightly at fault for a crash, you may be barred from recovering from the other driver. That's why your own medical payments, uninsured motorist and collision coverage matter more here.
It depends on the company, the car and the household, which is why we compare several companies. The inexperienced driver surcharge now lasts 8 years for drivers first licensed after July 1, 2025.
Yes. See our South Carolina, Virginia and Maryland pages.
Every client works with a licensed Sizemore advisor. We compare more than 100 insurance companies and recommend the one that fits. Request a quote online in about two minutes, or call us at (910) 791-1011, Monday through Friday, 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM.