120+ more*Quotes generated for Insurify users from North Carolina within the last 10 days. Last updated on August 15, 2026. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
*Quotes generated for Insurify users from North Carolina within the last 10 days. Last updated on August 15, 2026. Actual quotes may vary based on the policy buyer’s unique driver profile.
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10+ years editing experience
Published in U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal
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Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 21630969
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30+ years in financial services
Clinical Professor of Finance, University of San Diego
Updated
Coverage | Minimum Requirement in North Carolina |
|---|---|
| Bodily injury liability | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident |
| Property damage liability | $50,000 |
| Uninsured motorist | $50,000 per person / $100,000 per accident |
The North Carolina Legislature changed the minimum requirements for car insurance effective July 1, 2025. All policies must now meet the updated minimum coverage requirements of 50/100/50 for bodily injury (BI) and property damage (PD) liability.
The new legislation also requires that all policies include underinsured motorist (UM) coverage.
With these changes, North Carolina car insurance minimums are now among the highest in the U.S.
North Carolina state law requires drivers to carry at least $50,000 in bodily injury liability per person and $100,000 per accident.[1] Only four other states require these higher 50/100 BI liability limits: Alaska, Maine, Michigan, and Virginia.
Bodily injury liability insurance pays for the other party’s medical expenses if you cause an accident.
Suppose you cause an accident and injure two people. With state-minimum coverage, your policy would pay up to $50,000 toward each person’s medical bills.
But if three people were injured in the accident, each with $50,000 in medical expenses, your insurance wouldn’t pay more than $100,000.
Each car insurance policy in North Carolina must include at least $50,000 in property damage liability. If you cause an accident, PD liability pays to repair the other driver’s vehicle and any other damage you’re responsible for.
For example, suppose you have a state-minimum policy and cause an accident that totals another driver’s $75,000 luxury SUV. Your policy would pay up to $50,000, leaving you responsible for the remaining balance out of pocket.
When North Carolina changed its car insurance laws, it added uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage as a required component. UM/UIM coverage must meet or exceed your liability coverage limits.
This means if you have a state-minimum liability car insurance policy, you’d need at least $50,000 in UM/UIM coverage.
State-minimum liability policies average $69/mo.
Although North Carolina’s minimum coverage requirements are higher than most other states’, they may not be enough for all drivers.
For example, minimum liability insurance won’t cover your own medical bills or pay to repair your car after an accident. Adding medical payments coverage (MedPay), collision coverage, and comprehensive coverage can provide broader protection.
Drivers with a high net worth may also want to consider higher liability limits to protect their assets from lawsuits.
Scenario | Recommended Coverage |
|---|---|
| You want to protect your own vehicle | Add collision and comprehensive coverage |
| You want coverage for your medical costs | Add MedPay coverage to your policy |
| You have significant assets | Increase your liability limits to at least 100/300/100 |
| You want protection against uninsured drivers | Increase your UM/UIM coverage to at least $100,000 |
If you finance or lease your vehicle, your lienholder will likely require you to carry full coverage.[2] A full-coverage policy includes comprehensive and collision coverage, which protects the car and pays to repair or replace it.
Lenders require full coverage to protect their financial interest in the vehicle.
North Carolina requires drivers to have UM coverage as of July 1, 2025. UM coverage pays for your medical expenses and property damage if an uninsured driver causes an accident.
State law also requires you to carry UIM coverage. UIM pays toward your bodily injury claim if the other driver’s liability insurance isn’t sufficient.[3]
Car insurance in North Carolina costs an average of $91 per month. Drivers may see their car insurance premiums increase as a result of the state’s new higher liability limit requirements, according to the North Carolina Department of Insurance.
Even with the state’s higher liability insurance requirement, minimum coverage may not be enough to cover your costs after an accident. For example, the average cost of a property-only crash is about $15,000, according to the North Carolina Transportation Mobility and Safety Division.
But a crash with serious injuries averages $760,000, including medical expenses, legal fees, and lost wages or productivity. A policy with state-minimum limits falls far short of covering those costs.
Insurance Company | Average Monthly Quote |
|---|---|
| Erie | $56 |
| Progressive | $62 |
| Allstate | $64 |
| GEICO | $65 |
| Direct Auto | $66 |
| Liberty Mutual | $67 |
| National General | $67 |
| Safeco | $71 |
| Travelers | $71 |
| Dairyland | $77 |
| State Farm | $91 |
While insurers can’t use gender or age as a rating factor in North Carolina, they can use years of driving experience.
Although the state previously imposed a three-year inexperienced operator surcharge, the 2025 car insurance legislation extended it to eight years. This surcharge decreases over time as the driver gains experience.
The 2025 legislation also made changes to the state’s Safe Driver Incentive Plan.[4] This program assigns insurance points based on convictions and at-fault accidents.
Under the new law, certain four-point convictions now result in a five-year policy surcharge instead of a three-year surcharge.
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North Carolina requires drivers to maintain continuous liability insurance. As soon as your coverage lapses, your insurer must notify the North Carolina Department of Motor Vehicles (NCDMV) and send you an insurance termination notification.[5]
You’ll have 10 days to respond. If you fail to do so, the state may suspend your registration — and you’ll still owe the penalties.
First offense: If you restore coverage within the required time frame, the state will assess a $50 penalty.
Second offense: If you let your coverage lapse a second time but restore it within the required time frame, you’ll owe a $100 fine.
Subsequent insurance lapses: For your third and any subsequent lapses, the state will charge you a $150 penalty.[5]
In addition to any penalties, you’ll have to pay a $50 restoration fee to reinstate your driving privileges.
As a North Carolina driver, you may want to consider adding optional coverage to get the best car insurance for your needs:
Comprehensive coverage: North Carolina is at risk of tornadoes, floods, and hurricanes, according to North Carolina Emergency Management.[6] Natural disasters can cause serious damage to your vehicle. Comprehensive coverage pays for storm damage, theft, vandalism, and other non-collision events.
Miscellaneous vehicle coverage: If you live near (or among) North Carolina’s many golf courses, consider miscellaneous vehicle coverage. This endorsement protects golf carts, motorcycles, travel trailers, and similar types of vehicles.
Rental reimbursement: If you live in an area with a high number of deer — such as Wake, Guilford, Randolph, and Pitt counties, where 8,500 crashes between 2017 and 2024 involved an animal — rental reimbursement can come in handy.[7] This coverage helps pay for a rental car while your vehicle is in the shop for repairs.
Roadside assistance and towing: Whether you’re traveling sparsely populated rural routes like State Route 172 or crawling along in highway traffic on Interstates 85 or 95, roadside assistance offers valuable protection. It pays to tow your vehicle to a repair shop, fix a flat tire, or otherwise get you back on the road.
See below for answers to some of the most frequently asked questions about North Carolina car insurance requirements.
The new car insurance law in North Carolina, which took effect July 1, 2025, raised the minimum liability limits to 50/100/50 and added UM/UIM as required coverage.
Yes. In North Carolina, if you allow someone to drive your car, your insurance covers them, even if they’re not listed on your policy.
Yes. High-risk drivers can get auto insurance in North Carolina. If you can’t find coverage with a standard insurer, the North Carolina Reinsurance Facility ensures you can purchase coverage.[8]
No. Your liability insurance helps pay for the other driver’s medical expenses if you cause an accident, as well as those of their passengers. It doesn’t cover your medical bills or those of your passengers.
Yes. As of July 2025, all car insurance policies in North Carolina must now include uninsured/underinsured motorist coverage that at least matches your policy’s liability limits.
The first time you’re caught driving without insurance coverage, you face a $50 penalty plus a $50 fee to reinstate your driving privileges. Your second offense comes with a $100 penalty, and the state will assess a $150 penalty, plus a reinstatement fee, for third and subsequent offenses.
Insurify data scientists analyzed more than 250 million quotes served to car insurance applicants in Insurify’s proprietary database to calculate the premium averages displayed on this page. These premiums are real quotes that come directly from Insurify’s 500+ partner insurance companies in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. Quote averages represent the median price for a quote across the given coverage level, driver subset, and geographic area.
Unless otherwise specified, quoted rates reflect the average cost for drivers between 20 and 70 years old with a clean driving record and average or better credit (a credit score of 600 or higher).
Liability-only premium averages correspond to policies with the following coverage limits:
Quotes for Allstate, Farmers, GEICO, State Farm, and USAA are estimates based on Quadrant Information Services’ database of auto insurance rates.
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10+ years editing experience
Published in U.S. News and World Report, Newsweek, and the Wall Street Journal
Licensed property and casualty insurance agent
10+ years editing experience
NPN: 21630969
30+ years in financial services
Clinical Professor of Finance, University of San Diego
At Insurify, our goal is to help customers compare insurance products and find the best policy for them. We strive to provide open, honest, and unbiased information about the insurance products and services we review. Our hard-working team of data analysts, insurance experts, insurance agents, editors and writers, has put in thousands of hours of research to create the content found on our site.
We do receive compensation when a sale or referral occurs from many of the insurance providers and marketing partners on our site. That may impact which products we display and where they appear on our site. But it does not influence our meticulously researched editorial content, what we write about, or any reviews or recommendations we may make. We do not guarantee favorable reviews or any coverage at all in exchange for compensation.
