5 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs

chowong

Hi. I have found this article. It 's interesting.

5 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
By David R. Wilson

The price you pay for your homeowners insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars, depending on the insurance company you buy your policy from. Here are 5 ways you can lower your homeowner’s insurance costs.

1. Shop Around:
How many of us know whether we are getting a good deal on our home insurance policy? Shop around and comparison shop. You might be amazed at the savings that you are missing out on. Use the Internet, ask your friends, check the Yellow Pages or contact your state insurance department. National Association of Insurance Commissioners and get rates from 3-5 different homeowner’s insurance companies.

2. Raise Your Deductible:
Deductibles are the amount of money you have to pay toward a loss before your insurance company starts to pay a claim, according to the terms of your policy. The higher your deductible, the more money you can save on your premiums. While most insurance companies recommend a deductible of $500, if you can affords to raise your deductible to $1,000, you can save as much as 25% on your homeowners insurance.

3. Don’t Confuse what you paid for your house with rebuilding costs:
This is the most common mistake that homeowners make when deciding the replacement value of their home. If your home is worth $150,000 and the land it is on is worth $25,000, then the cost to rebuild your house if $125,000. Don’t get insurance for $150,000 as the land is not going anywhere.

4. Buy your home and auto policies from the same insurer:
Some companies that sell homeowners, auto and liability coverage will take 5 to 15% off your premium if you buy two or more policies from them. But make certain this combined price is lower than buying individual coverage from two different insurance companies.

5. Improve your home security:
Adding smoke detectors, burglar alarms or dead-bolt locks can drop the cost of your insurance by 5-10%. Adding a sophisticated fire and burglar alarm that rings at the police, fire or other monitoring stations can also save you 25%-33% on your homeowners insurance.

David Wilson covers how to save money on your insurance needs at Cheap Insurance Network. His latest article on Cheap Homeowners Insurance provides tips on how to save money when buying car insurance.

liz105

This is all based on the USA.

Gibbonmaster

chowong wrote: »

Hi. I have found this article. It 's interesting.

5 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance Costs
By David R. Wilson

The price you pay for your homeowners insurance can vary by hundreds of dollars, depending on the insurance company you buy your policy from. Here are 5 ways you can lower your homeowner’s insurance costs.

1. Shop Around:
How many of us know whether we are getting a good deal on our home insurance policy? Shop around and comparison shop. You might be amazed at the savings that you are missing out on. Use the Internet, ask your friends, check the Yellow Pages or contact your state insurance department. National Association of Insurance Commissioners and get rates from 3-5 different homeowner’s insurance companies.

2. Raise Your Deductible:
Deductibles are the amount of money you have to pay toward a loss before your insurance company starts to pay a claim, according to the terms of your policy. The higher your deductible, the more money you can save on your premiums. While most insurance companies recommend a deductible of $500, if you can affords to raise your deductible to $1,000, you can save as much as 25% on your homeowners insurance.

3. Don’t Confuse what you paid for your house with rebuilding costs:
This is the most common mistake that homeowners make when deciding the replacement value of their home. If your home is worth $150,000 and the land it is on is worth $25,000, then the cost to rebuild your house if $125,000. Don’t get insurance for $150,000 as the land is not going anywhere.

4. Buy your home and auto policies from the same insurer:
Some companies that sell homeowners, auto and liability coverage will take 5 to 15% off your premium if you buy two or more policies from them. But make certain this combined price is lower than buying individual coverage from two different insurance companies.

5. Improve your home security:
Adding smoke detectors, burglar alarms or dead-bolt locks can drop the cost of your insurance by 5-10%. Adding a sophisticated fire and burglar alarm that rings at the police, fire or other monitoring stations can also save you 25%-33% on your homeowners insurance.

David Wilson covers how to save money on your insurance needs at Cheap Insurance Network. His latest article on Cheap Homeowners Insurance provides tips on how to save money when buying car insurance.

I will try to advise these tips in UK terms:

1. Internet quotes are almost always cheaper than calling call-centres. Some insurers do an introductory discount(just change next year), if you've held insurance for many years with no claims look for an insurer that provides a high no claims discount.

2. Take a high excess - most insurers have a standard £50 excess(what you would pay as part of the claim) I would take a much higher one, this would bring the price down and to be honest I don't think its worth making small claims.

3. The rebuild cost of the home is almost always much lower than the sale price.

4. Taking buildings and contents cover together on the same policy with the same insurer usually results in a discount, yes multiple products together can sometimes give a discount too. Sometimes even being an older person can give you a cheaper policy just like with the car.

5.Many details of a property can affect an insurance premium. You can get it cheaper if you have key operated window locks and a 5-lever mortice lock on your exit doors. If you use a smoke and intruder alarm(doesn't have to be connected to the fire service or police). If you're in a neighbourhood watch area. Have a standard built property(brick and tile is much cheaper than thatched and timber!)

It's pretty similar, hope it helps!