Home Insurance Money-Saving Tips

Home insurance can be pretty costly, and sometimes it can be just plain ridiculous.  That doesn’t have to be the case all the time though.  There are a few things that you can do to prevent your insurance from going through the roof.

1. Raise your deductible - Bringing your deductible up a little bit will help you save money on your monthly bills.  This does come with the added risk of paying more if something ever does happen to your home, but often times it pays off in the long run.

2. Additions add up - Anything that you do to your home to help protect it from danger will lower your premiums.  You should ask your agent about any possible discounts if you have any of these features.  They would include storm doors, hurricane blinds and fire retardant insulation.

3. Beat burglars-Installing security systems of any kind will help keep your prices down.  These can be as high tech or basic as you want them to be.  Generally the more powerful the system, the better the discount.

4. Fight fire-Having alarms and fire preventing systems in place in your home can help save you a ton of money.  These systems would include sprinkler systems, fire alarms and even having a fire extinguisher in your home could lead to a discount.

5. Fight Water - A lot of claims come from water leaking or flooding somewhere inside the home.  To avoid this you should get your plumbing check regularly and replace and damaged or old pipes.  You should also check your sump pump and have a back-up installed.

6. Multi-policy discounts-You probably have other insurances other than home insurance.  That said often time companies will offer you big discounts to hold multiple policies with them.  Look into this when you are looking at car, life and home insurance.

SAVINGS ADVICE FOR HOME SHOPPERS
There are many things that can affect the cost of home insurance when you are looking at new home, or building a home.  Some of the things listed here will be more of a factor than others, but all will play a role in determining your rate:

1. How old the home is.

2. How much it will be to rebuild in the area.

3. How close emergency personnel are.

4. High risk areas like hurricane zones or tornado alleys

5. Amount of crime in the area

6. Your Credit Score

7. If any other claims have been made on that particular piece of property (even if you didn’t make them).

You need to ask questions and look into these factors before you decide on a home.  You don’t want to find out you home insurance premiums are going to be through roof, after you own your home.