Home insurance is one of the most important forms of insurance you can purchase and in most cases, is required by your lender. Not all homeowners insurance policies offer the same coverage so it is important to shop for a home insurance quote. Some ways you can save on home insurance premiums are:
Raise Deductible – By raising your deductible to $1000 you can lower your premium by as much as 25%. If you live in a disaster prone area you may have a separate deductible for disasters such as wind, flood, and hurricanes so be sure to check the deductible for each type of coverage.
Insure Home Not Your Land – A replacement value policy insures your home and it’s contents against loss and replaces both the structure and the contents for the value at the time of loss. Be sure to deduct the value of the land from the value you are going to insure. By covering the full value of your home including the land you are paying more than you should.
Combine Auto and Home Policies – By combining auto and home policies together you can save between 5-15% on premiums. Don’t assume that it is always cheaper to combine policies together so get separate home insurance quotes first and then compare quotes. By staying with the same insurer you may be eligible for loyalty discounts and claim free discounts.
Protect Your Home From Disaster – By making improvements to your home to protect against natural disasters like hail, windstorms, and earthquakes, you may qualify for discounts. Storm shutters and fire retardant roofing materials are some common improvements that can help to reduce your insurance costs. In the U.S., homeowners that live near flood prone areas should take advantage of the National Flood Insurance Program. In Canada, flood insurance is an add-on to your homeowners policy and in the UK, flood insurance is becoming more important as the rate of coastal and inland flooding increase.
Make Your Home Secure - Try installing dead bolt locks on doors, use a safe for valuables, smoke detectors, and a security monitoring service for additional discounts on your homeowners policy. In addition, upgrading outdated electrical, heating or plumbing systems can earn you a 10-15% discount on home insurance premiums as well as provide potential cost savings in the long run.
Reduce Rider Coverage as Valuables Depreciate – That Chinchilla Coat may have cost $4000 15 years ago but you may have trouble selling it for half that much on ebay. If you attach a rider to your homeowners policy to cover items such as: furs, computers, jewelry, cameras, stamp collections, antiques, art, or musical instruments, you will want to adjust the coverage amount as the items appreciate or depreciate in value. Make this a part of your yearly financial review!
Shop Around for Home Insurance Quote – You wouldn’t purchase a home without shopping around for the best value so why would you not shop around for a home insurance quote? Not only does shopping help you to learn about the different coverages offered by different companies, insurance agents will be better able to tailor a policy that meets your needs.
This post is sponsored by MoneySupermarket.com
In what ways have you been able to save on home insurance?
Combining policies and shopping around have to be some of the best things you can do. I typically shop my insurance every 2 years or so.
Great point YFS! I would recommend putting shopping insurance rates on your year-end financial checklist every other year!
We shop around every year then ring up the present insurers to see whether they can match the best price. They ususally can. We also carry insurance cover via our bank for emergencies so be careful not to over-insure.
Bundling is definitely an easy way to save these days. It’s also so much easier dealing with one provider instead of 2 or 3. I do that with my cable, internet, and phone service and it’s nice only getting one bill! -Sydney
Anytime I can consolidate bills and save money at the same time I’m all for it!
I do all these things and routinely shop the policies every couple years to make sure I have the best rates.
Cavalcade of Risk #147: Riskiest Startups edition
Jacob Irwin hosts this week’s outstanding collection of risk-related posts,and your post is in it:
http://www.mypersonalfinancejourney.com/2011/12/cavalcade-of-risk-147-riskiest-start-up.html
Please let your readers know.
And a friendly reminder to newbies and regulars alike that, while it’s not mandatory to give a link back, it’s the way that carnivals work best. If your submitted post has been included in the Cav, please remember to post about it on your blog because it helps us all.
Thanks, and Happy New Year!
Hank Stern
Combining the policies doesn’t always workout but more and more companies are requiring it when writing the homeowners.
I sure hope insurance companies aren’t getting rid of the multi policy discount. We are still getting that discount with State Farm.