Best Price

Written by Ethan Hawke

If you own a home, you have to purchase home insurance, but you also need to make sure you have the right coverage and that you don’t pay a premium for the policy.

Hazard or Home insurance is also called homeowners insurance. It is a property insurance that covers your home and includes several types of coverage. The land, building and other structures are covered under the structural coverage. Another type of coverage is liability. This covers your financial responsibility if someone gets hurt on your land or your dog bites a neighbor at the park. Liability will also pay court fees.

There is coverage that replaces the loss of the homes contents, or stolen luggage when you are on vacation. Home insurance covers the home owner if at least one of the owners or named insured, lives in the home. The insurance for income property, like a house you rent to someone else is a different type of policy.

Tips To Save You Money

Home insurance can be a big expense. If you own a home, you can’t choose whether or not you want insurance, you can only choose where you get if and what price you pay for it. And once you have a policy, it doesn’t mean you can’t shop around a couple times a decade for a better one. Here are some tips and ideas to help as you compare policies. They are intended to make sure you get what you need, at the best possible price.

Bigger Deductible

Check different deductibles and the effect a higher deductible will have on your payments. Make sure the deductible is affordable if you have a loss. This will have the added benefit of keeping you from filing small claims. Having multiple claims over a short period of time may make it difficult to renew your insurance.

Home Security

Look at your policy or talk to your agent about increasing your home security. Some insurance companies will give a discount if you install deadbolts and a peephole if you don’t have them. It varies per company, but you might be able to save up to fifteen percent on your premium if you make all the safety changes and additions.

Other safety equipment with possible savings would be smoke alarms and fire extinguishers. Also monitored security systems will save you money. See what the difference is and based on the cost of the system what your return on investment is. How long will it take to pay off the system with your savings?

Multi-policy Discounts

Because our family has all three cars, the motor home, the house and two, term-life policies with the same company, we get huge discounts. I’ve tried comparison shopping, it doesn’t work unless I get a bid for everything from one company and they have a multi-policy discount. The rate per item is greatly reduced. We pay less for the RV for a full year, than our friends do on their six-month policy. The homeowner insurance is the same way.

Good Credit

Many insurance companies base their insurance rates on your credit. If you maintain a good credit rating you may get a better annual policy.

Money in the Roof

If you have to replace the roof, talk to the insurance company first. There are fire and hail resistant roof materials. Some insurance companies will factor what your roof is made of into your premium payment. You may be eligible for a discount if you have the right roof, depending on the area of the country you live in.

Shop Around

Get several quotes. Talk to different agents and do research on the companies you are interested in. Ask what their claims procedures and customer service options are. Make sure your questions are answered.

CLUE or A-PLUST Report

Before you buy a house, get the CLUE or A-PLUST report. This report will tell you what types of home insurance claims have been filed in the past five years on the house. If there have been a lot of claims or certain types of claims like consistent water damage, the insurance premiums on the home may be higher.

Get The Coverage You Need

Make sure you understand your standard coverage limits. Ensure that you have replacement costs in the policy instead of actual value for replacement. This will allow you to replace your personal items with what it costs to buy them today, instead of the value left in them.

Check Your Policy

See what the policies say about sewer and drain backup. Many policies won’t cover them. If you have a pool, or other high risk item, check into umbrella coverage for higher liability. If you have a home office, jewelry or other collectibles and expensive items – make sure and check the limits and see what a rider or extra policy would be.