NC Title Bond Calculator

The NCDMV-assigned value from its Value Schedule — a license plate agency looks this up by VIN, year, make, and model when you start the bonded-title process. If your vehicle isn’t on the schedule (mobile home or another vehicle not listed), MVR-92A requires two appraisals from North Carolina dealers, and the bond is 1.5x the highest of the two, so enter the higher figure here. Don’t use a private appraisal, a trade-in quote, or an online value tool in place of the Value Schedule or the two dealer appraisals.

N.C. G.S. § 20-76 sets the penalty amount at one and one-half times the vehicle’s value, not 1:1. The extra 50% is the cushion NCDMV builds in to cover any prior owner, lienholder, or subsequent purchaser who might file a claim against the bond during the three-year period — legal costs and a judgment can exceed the vehicle’s bare value, so the statute overbonds on purpose. Compare that to Tennessee’s identical 1.5x multiplier but DOR-set value, or Georgia and Florida’s stricter 2x multiplier — NC sits in the middle of the national range.

The bond amount (1.5x the value NCDMV determines, with a $100 minimum bond per NCDMV’s requirements form MVR-92A) follows G.S. § 20-76 and NCDMV’s form and doesn’t vary by carrier. The premium range is an estimate. Actual premium is set by the underwriting NC-admitted surety and depends on your credit, the vehicle type, and any prior claims history; NC indemnity bonds are typically priced between 1% and 3% of the bond amount with a roughly $100 floor. Get a firm number by sending the NCDMV value and your credit tier to a producer rather than binding off the estimate alone.

Yes, mechanically. Enter the higher of the two dealer appraisals; MVR-92A step 3 says the bond must be one and one-half times the highest appraisal. The mobile home example in the worked-examples table below reflects that. The difference is upstream of the calculator: getting that appraisal number means obtaining two appraisals from North Carolina dealers rather than pulling a number from the Value Schedule.

G.S. § 20-76 sets the bond at 1.5x the value NCDMV determines and states no dollar minimum, but NCDMV’s requirements form (MVR-92A) says the bond “must be for a minimum of $100.00.” At about $66.67 of vehicle value, 1.5x crosses $100, so a vehicle NCDMV values below that still needs a $100 bond. The premium has its own $100 floor, which carriers commonly hold on a filed 3-year bond; that is a separate figure. It mostly shows up on non-running or very old vehicles with a nominal assigned value. NCDMV does not accept a bond for a vehicle branded parts-only, non-rebuildable or declared junked.

The steps run in order. Complete the MVR-92H affidavit, then the SHP inspection (LT-270), then get the value. MVR-92A says: “DO NOT OBTAIN BOND BEFORE COMPLETING STEPS 1 THRU 3.” Only then does an NC-licensed surety issue the MVR-92D bond at the amount this calculator shows. Our full write-up on the form sequence and the surety rules lives on the NC vehicle title bond page; read that before you order the SHP inspection, because the bond itself is the last piece, not the first.