Homeowners insurance in North Dakota

The home insurance market in North Dakota

North Dakotans paid $388.4 million in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

This is one of the smallest homeowners markets in the country (based on NAIC data, only Alaska, Vermont and the District of Columbia had smaller totals in 2025) and one of the most local. State Farm leads with under 15%, but two home-grown companies sit in the top six. Agraria, based in Jamestown, was known as Farmers Union Mutual Insurance Company of North Dakota until April 2020, and Nodak Insurance Company of Fargo has served the state for more than 80 years. North Star Mutual, from Cottonwood, Minnesota, adds a third regional company. The top 10 write about 80% of premiums, and the remaining fifth is split among smaller insurers, which is why an independent agent who can quote several of them is useful here.

What drives home insurance costs in North Dakota

The NAIC put North Dakota's average HO-3 premium at $1,414 for 2023, about 19% below the countrywide $1,737, and its condo and renters averages were the second-lowest in the nation. Low averages do not mean low risk. At a Residential Resiliency Roundtable in Bismarck on September 21, 2026, the Insurance & Securities Department said rising costs of materials and labor and recent severe weather have put pressure on property rates, and that economic factors have raised the cost of wind, hail and fire damage. Commissioner Jon Godfread pointed to stronger construction and better local fire protection, including rural and volunteer departments, as the long-run ways to bring prices down.

Flooding is the other big peril: the 2011 flooding (federal disaster DR-1981, February 14 to July 20, 2011) led FEMA to approve about $95.8 million in individual and household assistance. See severe convective storms and rising premiums.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

North Dakota has no hurricane deductible rules because it has no hurricane exposure. The deductible that matters is the wind and hail deductible, which each insurer sets in its own policy and which may be a percentage of your dwelling limit rather than a flat amount. Say your dwelling limit is $300,000 and your wind/hail deductible is 1%: a hailstorm that ruins your roof costs you the first $3,000. Check how your policy settles roofs, too; see hail damage claims: roofs, siding and windows and the roof claim payout estimator.

State law gives policyholders a few specific protections. These cover policies on owner-occupied homes of up to four units and their contents (N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-10 to -21):

• Cancellation. After a policy has been in force 60 days, or after a renewal, the insurer may cancel only for listed reasons, such as nonpayment, fraud, a substantial increase in hazard or a code violation. It must give 30 days' written notice, or 10 days for nonpayment.
• Nonrenewal. The insurer must mail notice at least 45 days before the policy expires, with the reasons or a statement that it will give them if you ask in writing.
• Banned reasons. An insurer may not decline or terminate you because another insurer did, because you were once insured through a residual market, or because of the age or location of your home, unless the decision has a genuine business purpose.

North Dakota also lets you challenge your fire protection class. Within 30 days after a quote, a new policy or a renewal, you can assert a different class with factual support, and the insurer must apply it; it then has 90 days to investigate and either keep your class or document why the original one stands (N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-09.3). For a rural home near a newly equipped volunteer department, that can change the price. See Fire protection class (ISO PPC) and your rate.

Flood and other gaps

Homeowners policies exclude flood. FEMA counted just 5,602 NFIP policies in force in North Dakota as of September 30, 2026, down 307 in a year. The Insurance & Securities Department notes that NFIP coverage tops out at $250,000 for a home and $100,000 for contents, that new policies generally take 30 days to start, and that basements in the region are widely used as living space; NFIP coverage in basements is limited. Sewer backup through a floor drain is not flood insurance either; it needs a water backup endorsement. See NFIP flood insurance explained.

If you can't find coverage

North Dakota has no FAIR plan or other state-run residual market for homes; none is listed among the property insurance plans that belong to PIPSO, the national association of FAIR and beach plans. After a declination, ask the insurer for its reasons in writing (it must provide them within 21 days of a written request made within 90 days, under N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-12), then widen the search through an independent agent who represents regional and farm mutuals. Past that, the fallback is a surplus lines insurer. If you get a nonrenewal notice, the nonrenewal action plan lays out the steps.

Claims rules and deadlines

North Dakota's unfair claims statute (N.D.C.C. 26.1-04-03(9)) sets standards rather than day counts. It makes it an unfair practice, when done often enough to show a general business practice, to fail to acknowledge claim communications with reasonable promptness, to fail to adopt standards for prompt investigation, to fail to affirm or deny coverage within a reasonable time after proof of loss, or to lowball claims so that policyholders must sue.

The deadlines that do have numbers are these:

• Suit. No fire or property policy may give you less than three years to sue (N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-06(10)).
• Reopened and supplemental claims. A reopened claim is barred unless the insurer got notice within one year after the date of loss, and a supplemental claim must be noticed within 12 months after the insurer's last payment for that part of the loss (N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-30). The clocks are tolled while a named insured is deployed to a combat zone.
• Bad faith. Before suing a property insurer for bad faith, you must first win a court judgment that it breached the policy (N.D.C.C. 26.1-39-29).

Disputes over the amount of a loss can go to the policy's appraisal clause; for anything more, talk to an attorney or a licensed public adjuster.

Discounts and mitigation programs

North Dakota has no state home-hardening grant, and it is not among the states IBHS lists with a statewide FORTIFIED grant program. The department's own savings tips are the familiar ones: bundling home and auto, security and smoke alarms, a higher deductible if you can afford it, and asking about claims-free and home-improvement discounts. Two North Dakota-specific moves are worth making: dispute a wrong fire protection class within the 30-day window, and ask insurers what credit they give for impact-resistant roofing before you replace a hail-damaged roof.

Where to get help

The North Dakota Insurance & Securities Department answers questions at 701-328-2440 (TTY 800-366-6888) and by email at [email protected]. Complaints go through the online consumer complaint form linked from its complaints page, or by mail to 600 E Boulevard Ave., Bismarck, ND 58505-0320; offices are on the fifth floor of the State Capitol, open Monday through Thursday 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday 8 a.m. to noon. Attach copies of your policy and the insurer's letters. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department. Neighbors Minnesota, South Dakota and Montana share the same hail belt.