The short version

More than the state minimum. North Carolina requires 50/100/50 on policies issued or renewed on or after July 1, 2025 — $50,000 bodily injury per person, $100,000 bodily injury per accident, $50,000 property damage per accident. That replaced the older 30/60/25 requirement.

Those numbers are a legal floor. They are what the state will let you drive with, not an assessment of what would actually protect you. A serious injury claim can exceed $50,000 quickly, and anything above your limit is yours to pay.

Start with liability, because that is what protects your assets

Liability pays for injuries and damage you cause to others. It is the coverage that stands between an at-fault accident and your savings, your home equity, and your future earnings.

The right way to set it is to look at what you have to lose rather than what the state requires. Someone with meaningful assets or strong income should be well above the minimum. Our page on liability Car Insurance explains the three numbers, and North Carolina's requirements covers the legal side.

The North Carolina rule that changes the math

North Carolina follows pure contributory negligence. If an injured party is found even 1% at fault, they are generally barred from recovering damages from the other driver. Only a handful of jurisdictions still use this rule.

Read that from your side of the windshield. If another driver hits you and you are found slightly at fault, your claim against them can be worth nothing — regardless of how badly you were hurt.

That is why in North Carolina the coverages protecting you matter more than they do elsewhere.

Uninsured and underinsured motorist

UM is mandatory in North Carolina, and as of July 1, 2025 UIM is required too — a change from prior law. Both carry minimums of $50,000 per person and $100,000 per accident, and your UM/UIM limits must be at least equal to your liability limits. By statute they cannot be required to exceed $1,000,000.

UM/UIM pays when the at-fault driver has no insurance or not enough, including hit-and-runs. Given contributory negligence, this is arguably the most valuable coverage on a North Carolina policy. See uninsured and underinsured motorist coverage.

Note the linkage: because UM/UIM must match your liability limits, raising liability raises this protection too. That is a strong argument against carrying minimums.

Medical Payments

MedPay covers medical and funeral expenses for you, your family members and your passengers hurt in an accident, regardless of fault. In a contributory negligence state, a coverage that pays without a fault argument is worth more than it looks.

North Carolina is not a no-fault state, so PIP is not a North Carolina coverage — MedPay is the equivalent here.

Physical damage: collision and comprehensive

Neither is required by the state, but a lender or lessor typically requires both on a financed or leased vehicle.

Collision covers damage to your own car from an at-fault collision, including rollover and pothole damage, but excludes mechanical failure. Comprehensive covers theft, vandalism, fire, flood, hail, falling objects, animal strikes and broken glass. Each carries a separate deductible. See collision vs. comprehensive.

If you owe more than the car is worth, gap insurance covers the difference — relevant early in a loan, since a car can lose roughly 20% of its value in the first year.

A practical way to decide

Set liability against your net worth and future income, not against the legal minimum. Match UM/UIM to it, which happens automatically. Add MedPay. Carry Collision and Comprehensive if the car's value justifies it or a lender requires it. Set deductibles at amounts you could actually pay. Then, if your assets warrant it, look at an umbrella policy above the auto limits.

How The Jordan Insurance Agency helps

The Jordan Insurance Agency is an independent agency in Charlotte. We will price several limit options side by side so you can see what better protection actually costs — the step up from minimum limits is usually far smaller than people assume.