Homeowners insurance in South Carolina

The home insurance market in South Carolina

South Carolinians paid $3.51 billion in homeowners premiums in 2025, according to NAIC market share data. These are the 10 largest insurance groups by 2025 direct premiums written:

State Farm writes about one premium dollar in five, and the top three groups write close to 38%, based on NAIC data. Frontline and SageSure, sixth and seventh, are coastal specialists built around hurricane-exposed homes.

What drives home insurance costs in South Carolina

Wind sets the price, and the coast pays most of it. State law requires rating plans in the coastal and seacoast areas to include credits or surcharges for storm shutters, roof tie-downs, construction standards, distance from water and elevation (S.C. Code §38-73-1095). Statewide, the NAIC put the average HO-3 premium at $1,753 for 2023, close to the countrywide $1,737.

Hurricane Helene showed that inland homes are exposed too. Starting September 27, 2024, it hit 33 counties with 21 tornadoes, hurricane-force gusts and flash flooding, killed 49 people and damaged nearly 5,000 homes, according to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division (SCEMD), which called it the deadliest hurricane in the state in 100 years. Wind damage that far inland is a homeowners-policy claim, not a wind pool claim.

Insurers have also grown pickier at renewal. A U.S. Senate Budget Committee staff report found South Carolina's nonrenewal rate rose 136% from 2018 to 2023, the fourth-largest increase of any state. In April 2026 the House passed H.4817, the "Insurance Rate Reduction and Policyholder Protection Act," aimed at roofing contractors who work insurance claims, mitigation discounts and larger retrofit tax credits. The bill record shows no action after a Senate committee report on April 30, 2026, and no final passage.

Deductibles and coverage rules to know

South Carolina allows hurricane, named-storm and wind/hail deductibles and regulates how they are disclosed (S.C. Code §38-75-755; Regulation 69-56):

• Named storm means only a hurricane, tropical storm or tropical depression named or identified by the National Weather Service or National Hurricane Center. A winter storm named by a TV network cannot trigger it.
• Disclosure. Each new policy and renewal must show a worked example on a $100,000 policy, and the policy face and declarations page must carry a capitalized warning that the deductible "MAY RESULT IN HIGH OUT-OF-POCKET EXPENSES TO YOU."
• Renewal changes. An insurer can add or raise one of these deductibles at renewal only if you sign or initial an acknowledgment.

Neither the statute nor the regulation caps the percentage. Say your dwelling limit is $350,000 with a 2% hurricane deductible: you pay the first $7,000 of hurricane damage. A named-storm deductible would also apply to a tropical storm, and a wind/hail deductible applies to every wind or hail loss. Try the hurricane and percentage deductible calculator and see hurricane and named-storm deductibles explained.

Nonrenewal needs at least 60 days' written notice stating the precise reason (§38-75-740), and the notice must tell you that you can ask the Department's director, within 30 days, to review whether the insurer followed the law (§38-75-1160). After a policy has been in force 120 days, an insurer can cancel only for listed reasons, with 10 days' notice for nonpayment and 30 days for the others (§38-75-730). It may not nonrenew a homeowners policy because you filed a claim for an act of God (§38-75-790).

Flood and other gaps

Homeowners policies exclude flood, including storm surge, and new NFIP policies take 30 days to start. FEMA counted 187,084 NFIP policies in force in South Carolina on September 30, 2026, down from 195,217 a year earlier but still the fifth-highest state total. Inland take-up is thin: a year after Helene, just over 368 NFIP policyholders in the state had filed flood claims, with $9.72 million paid (SCEMD). See NFIP flood insurance explained.

Earthquake is the overlooked gap. SCEMD records 10 to 15 earthquakes a year in South Carolina, three to five of them felt. Homeowners policies exclude earthquake damage, and the Department says earthquake deductibles usually run 10% to 20% of the coverage limit.

If you can't find coverage

South Carolina has no statewide FAIR plan. Its residual market is the South Carolina Wind and Hail Underwriting Association (SC Wind), which writes wind and hail coverage only in the designated coastal area: by statute, the beachfront and barrier-island strip from Horry County east of U.S. 17 down through Charleston County islands such as Kiawah and Folly to Beaufort County east of the Intracoastal Waterway. The director can expand the area within the eight seacoast counties, 24 months at a time (§38-75-460), so ask an agent whether your address qualifies.

SC Wind told a House committee in July 2025 that it had 15,825 policies and $6.87 billion insured as of June 30, 2025, down from 47,366 policies in August 2011. Its personal-lines maximum is $1.3 million, about 75% of its dwellings are insured at actual cash value, and 38% carry 5% or 10% deductibles. You apply through a licensed agent, buildings started since September 15, 1971 must meet building code, and a denial can be appealed to the director (§38-75-350). An SC Wind policy pairs with a homeowners policy that excludes wind; see windstorm exclusions and wind-only policies and beach and windstorm pools along the coast: how they work.

Elsewhere, declined homeowners can try the surplus lines home insurance when standard carriers say no market or the Department's Insurance Locator (803-737-6180).

Claims rules and deadlines

South Carolina's claim rules are general rather than clock-based:

• An insurer that requires a written proof of loss must send you the form within 20 days of your notice; if it does not, your own written account within the policy's time limit counts (§38-59-10).
• Unreasonable delay, or failing to acknowledge claim communications promptly, is an improper claim practice the Department enforces (§38-59-20). We found no day-count deadline to pay.
• If an insurer refuses to pay a covered claim within 90 days of your demand and a judge finds the refusal unreasonable or in bad faith, it owes your attorney fees, up to one-third of the judgment (§38-59-40).
• You have three years to sue, and a shorter policy clause does not control (§15-3-530(8)). See deadlines to sue over a home insurance claim.

We found no state-run claim mediation program on the Department's site.

Discounts and mitigation programs

Insurers must tell you at every new policy and renewal what wind-mitigation discounts and deductible reductions they offer (§38-75-755).

SC Safe Home grants serve owner-occupied, single-family homes in Beaufort, Berkeley, Charleston, Colleton, Dorchester, Florence, Georgetown, Horry, Jasper, Marion and Williamsburg counties. The top award is up to $7,500 (non-matching) or $6,000 (matching) for a roof that meets both Safe Home and FORTIFIED Roof standards; roof or opening protection alone earns up to $5,000, and shutters up to $3,000. Awards scale with household income, you pay the wind inspection ($150 to $250 by home size), and work must be finished within three months. The portal reopened July 13, 2026, was closed as of October 2026 and opens twice a year (803-737-6087). See The FORTIFIED Home standard and insurance discounts and state home hardening grant programs.

State tax law adds three tools: a credit of 25% of retrofit costs, up to $1,000 (§12-6-3660); a credit for homeowners premiums above 5% of adjusted gross income, up to $1,250 a year (§12-6-3670); and tax-deductible catastrophe savings accounts for deductibles (§12-6-1620).

Where to get help

The South Carolina Department of Insurance is at 1201 Main Street, Suite 1000, Columbia, SC 29201; main line 803-737-6160. Its Office of Consumer Services takes claim, premium and nonrenewal problems at 803-737-6180 or toll-free 800-768-3467. Contact your insurer first, then file a complaint online or by PDF form. Insurers must answer the Department within seven days, and you may file one rebuttal. The Department cannot compel payment or negotiate a settlement. See how to file a complaint with your state insurance department and the nonrenewal action plan. Neighbors North Carolina and Georgia face similar coastal rules.