Home Insurance: Cost-cutting Tips
Home insurance is a necessity in order to protect you from liability and help you pay for damages during an emergency. Home insurance premiums vary based on where you live and which insurance company you use. While you may not be able to find super cheap insurance that includes all of the coverage you need, there are things you can do to reduce the amount you pay on your premium. Below are some tips to help you cut costs on your home insurance without sacrificing any coverage.
Shop Around Before Purchasing
Before investing in home insurance, it's important to shop around. You shouldn't focus only on pricing, but check the different insurance agency reports to find out how many complaints a company has and what their resolution process is for clients who have an issue. You don't want to sacrifice service for a cheap price. Once you find a few agencies that you feel confident using, comparison shop by contacting each agency and finding out what your premiums would be through the company.
You can also use an insurance database to comparison shop online. You type in all of your information and the database will electronically sort through the best agencies for you. Once you have a few agency names, you can conduct your research and decide if any of the listed companies would meet your needs.
Combine Policies and Raise Your Deductible
Consider using an agency that allows you to combine your homeowner's insurance and auto insurance to receive a discount. Many agencies offer this in order to gain more business. But you will need to make sure that the percentage you save on your premiums allows you to save more than buying the premiums separately from different companies.
Another way to save money is the raise the deductible you're willing to pay on a claim. The average deductible for most policies is $500, but if you can raise it to $1,000 or more you can save a good percentage off your monthly premiums. You should also check to see if your policy has any separate deductibles for major disaster coverage. You may be able to raise those deductibles a little to save money.
Keep Your Policy Up to Date
When you first create your homeowner's policy, you may add coverage for your possessions that are worth a certain amount. Over time many of your possessions that you may have covered in your policy will depreciate in value. Make sure you stay up to date with exactly what your policy covers and what your premium is paying for each month. You can start to reduce your policy once your material items start to depreciate. You can also reduce your premium by adding safety features to your home such as smoke detectors, carbon monoxide detectors, and an alarm system. Inform your insurance broker as soon as you add the new features so they can start reducing your premium. By getting small reductions here and there, it will add up to a larger percentage of total savings.