Best Wilmington, NC Auto Insurance in 2024
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Tim Bain
Licensed Insurance Agent
Tim Bain is a licensed insurance agent with 23 years of experience helping people protect their families and businesses with the best insurance coverage to meet their needs. His insurance expertise has been featured in several publications, including Investopedia and eFinancial. He also does digital marking and analysis for KPS/3, a communications and marking firm located in Nevada.
Licensed Insurance Agent
UPDATED: Nov 11, 2024
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Wilmington Has the 8th highest population of any North Carolina city and is located along the southeastern coast of the state. It was one of the first cities in the US to build a Riverwalk-style tourist destination in its historic downtown area Back in the 1990s.
As a matter of fact, between its Riverwalk and its close proximity to nearby beaches, Wilmington is a very popular tourist destination.
- Fun fact: They must like to look after their own in Wilmington, because it’s #17 on the list of “Top 101 cities with largest percentage of males in occupations: Community and social service occupations (population 50,000+)”. Learn more about Wilmington here.
Auto Insurance Coverage Requirements in North Carolina
Driving legally in Wilmington requires:
| Coverage | Requirements | Most Common |
| Bodily Injury Liability | 30,000/60,000 | 100,000/300,000 |
| Property Damage Liability | 25,000 | 50,000 |
| Uninsured Motorist Bodily Injury | 30,000/60,000 | 100,000/300,000 |
| Medical Payments | Not required | 2,000 |
| Collision | Not required | 250 deductible |
| Comprehensive | Not required | 0 deductible |
Do you know the difference between liability coverage and full coverage insurance? Some drivers do, and some drivers don’t. But if you want to save money on your monthly insurance premiums, you’d better learn the difference real quick.
Choosing to purchase less coverage may make more economic sense for certain drivers, but opting for more coverage could provide greater financial protection for others. It’s all about your specific needs.
Your typical motorist living in Wilmington will pay around $87 a month just for basic coverage. But you can pay less than that – or get more coverage for equal value – with our help.
It looks like State Farm and Allied are trying really hard to undercut the competition in Wilmington right now. But does that lower price tag come with equal or better service compared to other insurance companies in the area?
That’s a very important question that you need an answer to before you switch companies for a better price alone. Sometimes switching providers is worth it for a lower price, but sometimes it isn’t.
We can give you the information you need to make a more well-informed decision.
Insurance providers currently selling North Carolina auto insurance policies have to take many different bits of information into account before quoting a price. If they quote you the wrong price, they could get in trouble for unethical business practices.
But if they don’t charge you enough, you could become very expensive to insure and cut into their profits. Naturally, this means they’re going to quote you something on the higher side of fair – and it’s up to you to figure out how to tip the odds back in your favor.
We’ll show you how if you keep reading.
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Major Car Insurance Factors in Wilmington
Calculating your quote is a very complicated process. There are many different factors that your insurance provider will weigh in on, many of which will determine how careful (or not so careful) of a driver you are likely to be.
The seat for the driver, the easier it will be to get the lowest possible monthly rate.
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And some of the most important factors which predict this include:
Your Zip Code
There are approximately 117,545 souls living in Wilmington, NC today. At the end of the day, the average household income for Wilmington residents is around $38,800.
The population of the zip code you live in as well as property values to a certain extent can help predict the likelihood of accidents in your area. So the more drivers you’re sharing the road with, the harder it will be to get a lower rate for your monthly premiums.
Automotive Accidents
Given the population of the city, dangerous accidents in Wilmington a little bit higher then they are in cities of a similar size. This can be bad news if you are shopping around for a better car insurance premium.
But there are things you can do to make yourself stand out as a safer driver. You should definitely ask your insurance agent if there are ways to prove how cautious you are behind the wheel, such as with a defensive driving course.
You can also prove yourself by maintaining a clean driving record (but we’ll talk more about that in a minute).
Auto Thefts in Wilmington
Auto thefts are another area which is bad news for Wilmington: there were 354 recorded stolen vehicles according to the most recent data. Per capita, this means that your odds of getting your vehicle stolen are noticeably higher if you live in Wilmington.
You can’t really help this without moving to a different city, but there are ways you can be proactive in order to lower your risk.
You can also be proactive by installing an alarm system on your vehicle and trying to park it in a secure location at night, such as a locked garage.
Your Credit Score
What is it about your credit score that car insurance companies examine so closely? Well, most importantly, they want to know that you are financially responsible and reliable.
They want to know that you have the capacity to pay your premiums on time and in full every month. Some auto insurance providers also consider a higher credit score to be a reflection of your overall level of responsibility, including behind the wheel.
Either way you slice it, you’re going to want to have as high of a credit score as you can in order to get the best deal.
And if you don’t have an ideal score, start monitoring your credit using one of the free websites online and do your best to pay your bills in full and on time. It won’t be long before it starts to make a big difference.
Your Age
Most auto insurance companies prefer to provide coverage to drivers who have many years of experience behind the wheel. And if you don’t fall into that category – well, unfortunately, things can get very expensive for you.
Younger drivers face some of the highest premiums around because their lack of experience can lead to a very expensive accident (or accidents) more often than not.
To compensate for this, insurance companies will charge higher rates so that they have the funds available to pay out claims on these accidents.
It’s a good idea to get as much driver’s education as you can and to get good grades in school in order to get at least a modest discount off of your insurance premiums if you are under the age of 25.
Your Driving Record
If you live in a city that is densely populated, has an above average rate of accidents, or both, you’re probably going to get a higher than average auto insurance premium.
But you can try to push back a little against this by proving that you are safer behind-the-wheel than the average driver.
The easiest way to do that is to maintain a clean driving record. The fewer accidents and/or tickets in your recent driving history, the lower your monthly premium will be.
Having zero violations or accidents within the last 3 to 5 years is optimal, but even with a slightly tarnished record, you can improve your driver profile over time by staying under the speed limit, avoiding dangerous situations, and driving as safely as you possibly can.
Eventually, those violations will be scrubbed from your record and you can get a better rate.
Your Vehicle
The vehicle you drive plays just as big of a role in determining your premium as personal factors about you do. After all, getting into an accident likely means that the claim your insurance company pays out will go towards fixing or replacing your vehicle.
If you have a newer, nicer, more expensive vehicle, you will likely need to purchase insurance writers such as gap-loss coverage and comprehensive/collision. Drivers of older, less expensive vehicles can save money by purchasing smaller amounts of these coverages or opting out altogether.
Minor Car Insurance Factors in Wilmington
Of course, tweaking some of the factors below can add up to some extra savings over time:
Your Marital Status
Whether you’re newly married or you’ve been with your spouse for decades, spending the rest of your life with someone comes with the added bonus of saving money on your car insurance – if you play your cards right, that is.
Insurance companies typically believe that married drivers are inherently safer drivers, all things being equal. They also like to give you discounts of 10% or more if you and your spouse bundle together on the same family policy with the same company.
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Your Gender
A long time ago, car insurance companies have very specific theories about whether or not your gender made you a safer driver. They adjusted the rates that they charged based on these theories. But does the data still reflect these biases today? For some insurance companies, yes; for others, not so much.
You’ll need to ask your auto insurance provider whether or not gender plays a factor in your monthly premium. And if it plays a role which does not fall in your favor, well, we can help you find an insurance provider who doesn’t discriminate.
Your Driving Distance to Work
Wilmington residents typically have a longer commute time than neighboring cities. For people who work outside of the home, they can spend as much as 15 to 20 minutes behind the wheel at a shot. And the longer you spend commuting to work, the higher your likelihood of getting into an accident goes.
You can try and mitigate this by either taking public transportation or carpooling with co-workers. You may even want to ask your boss about working from home a couple of days a week – which is a very common thing in Wilmington.
Have you asked your auto insurance provider about whether or not they offer discounts for driving fewer miles each year? If not, then you may want to give them a call. Most companies will provide you with at the very least a modest discount for driving fewer miles.
After all, the less time you spend on the road, the less likely you are to get into an accident. Some may even offer substantial discounts of 30 percent or more if you track your mileage with a GPS device and stay under a certain limit.
Your Coverage and Deductibles
If you have comprehensive and collision coverage on your policy, then you will have the power to adjust your deductible in order to get a better rate on your coverage.
The higher the deductible, the lower your monthly premium and vice versa. However, setting your deductible too high can cause problems if you need to get back on the road quickly after an accident but don’t have the deductible money to pay right away.
Your insurance company won’t get the ball rolling on your claim if you don’t pay your deductible – and that can leave you stranded without transportation at a very difficult time.
Education in Wilmington, NC
There’s a sizable portion of the Wilmington population who have achieved at the very least a bachelor’s degree from a 4-year University – 28 percent of residents, to be exact. And one of the things that a bachelor’s degree can get them is a minor discount on their auto insurance coverage.
Car insurance providers interpreted as another sign of responsibility and reliability that will likely make you a safer driver behind the wheel.
There are many options when it comes to advancing your education in Wilmington, whether you’re looking for a public or a private institution.
The state-sponsored UNCSU system is a system of three public universities – North Carolina State University, the University of North Carolina, and Dakota State University – offer both young students and working adults a chance at earning a degree, with levels ranging from certificates and associate’s to the doctoral level.
There are also many private schools affiliated with religious organizations, such as Augustana College or the University of Wilmington.
Many of the topics we discussed so far – such as improving your credit score, cleaning up your driving record, securing your vehicle against theft, and more – may take some time to accomplish.
But in the meantime, it can be difficult to save money on your auto insurance premiums.
The best way to save money quickly and easily right now is to comparison shop with us! We can help you compare fast, free quotes from at least three different companies right now in order to get you the best possible deal.
How We Conducted Our Car Insurance Analysis
*We calculated our average rate based on the following metrics: a married, 34-year-old male with good credit, a 12-month history of maintaining auto insurance, a clean driving record, who owns his own home.
Miles driven annually were based on the national average. The average rate was also calculated based on a financed 2015 Honda Accord with a pre-installed anti-theft device.