
In North Carolina, state law requires each licensed driver to purchase liability coverage for injuries and damages incurred in case of accidents. In addition, the state also imposes the minimum amount limits for the required coverage--$30,000 for bodily injury of each person involved in the accident, $60,000 for total bodily injury per accident, and $25,000 for property damage.
There are also other supplementary coverage that an individual policyholder can purchase for added protection, such as collision and comprehensive coverage. For those trying to cover their liabilities in the case of theft, vandalism, or fire damage to their vehicle, the comprehensive coverage is an ideal supplementary coverage to purchase. There is also coverage offered in case the policyholder gets into an accident with uninsured or an underinsured motorist.
One of the factors influencing the rates of auto insurance premiums is the driving history or record of a potential policyholder. To this end, the state of North Carolina had devised a scheme to promote excellent driving history and will impact insurance rates. The North Carolina Safe Driver Incentive Plan (SDIP) assigns points to each licensed driver every time he or she commits traffic violations or be determined to be at fault in an accident. The goal here is to avoid accumulating points as much as possible. Consequently, a driver with high SDIP points will be charged higher auto insurance premiums. To illustrate, 12 points are assigned every time a driver incurs grave driving violations such as negligent homicide, driving under influence, and hit and run accidents. On the other hand, a point is assigned every time for speeding or causing an accident that results in injuries and damages costing less than $1,800 each. All other violations are graded in points in between the scale, depending on its defined gravity.
The state does not impose any grace period for delayed auto insurance payments. This means that the insurance provider have the right to cancel a particular policy for this reason alone. Other reasons for cancellation or non-renewal of an auto insurance policy allowed under state law includes making excessive claims, adding a high maintenance car into the policy, incurring higher number of traffic violations, and even adding an inexperience operator to the policy. However, the insurance provider is also required to notify the policyholder several days before the enforcing the cancellation or non-renewal.
It is also worth mentioning that the North Carolina Contributory Negligence Law prohibits a driver from collecting damages if the insurance adjuster determines that he or she is partially at fault for the accident. If this happens, the policyholder has the option of filing a case in the court of law to resolve the issue. In cases of settling claims for injuries resulting from an accident, there is state-imposed law for determining amount to pay for pain and suffering. If disputes on the amount of settlement occur, both parties are advised to use legal means to resolve the issue.