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5 Ways to Lower Your Homeowners Insurance

21 July 2015

Sherri Ramos

Purchasing insurance in a necessity in the modern world in order to protect yourself from financial hardship in the event of an accident or disaster. One such type of insurance is called homeowner's insurance, or sometimes, hazard insurance. If you want to save money on your homeowner's insurance, all you have to do is follow these five simple steps to do it.

Price Check

The first step in saving money on your homeowner's insurance is to price check with several different companies. While it might be beneficial to use the same company that you have other insurance coverage with, a different company entirely might have a better rate for your insurance. This could be because they focus solely on one type of insurance, because they offer less coverage, or because they simply try to be the cheapest on the market. Whatever the reason, it definitely won't hurt to shop around, much like you would for other types of big purchases.

Choose a Custom Plan

The next step in saving money is to choose a plan that personally benefits you. This ties in with the first step slightly. For example, if you live in the desert, you likely would not want to be covered against floods, because floods generally do not happen in the desert. Taking off that coverage is an easy way to cut back on some of your monthly or yearly rate. Similarly, if you live in an area that has high rain volume, or a history of floods, you would likely want to make sure that you are covered for floods.

Another step in saving money is to report things to your insurance company that are new, or have been recently installed. For example, if you report that you recently have had a new roof installation, or that your home was only recently built, that will lower some of the costs that are associated with the insurance.

This, much like with life insurance and other similar insurances is because a roof that has recently been built is less likely to cave in or be damaged by, say, a hailstorm. It is also important to note that newer homes in general will have less coverage costs for this reason.

Search For Specials

One more step involved with saving money is by asking the insurance company about discounts or specials. Insurance companies might shave off a few dollars of your payment if you have added safety updates, like a security system or impact windows. Other insurance companies have deals that may be associated with owning certain things, or not owning certain things.

Other insurances may offer multi-insurance discounts. Before you buy your insurance, be sure to ask about these discounts before you make the commitment to an insurance company. Conversely, if you already have the insurance, ask your current insurance about these discounts. You might be surprised at what things qualify for a discount.

Raise Your Deductible

The last step involved in saving money on homeowner's insurance involves something that requires you to spend more money at first, but will, in the long run, save you a lot of money. If you raise your deductible to a certain level, insurance companies will lower the rate that you have to pay to them each month.

Generally, the higher the monthly deductible you have, the more that you will save on a yearly basis. However, keep in mind that if disaster should strike you would be responsible for more of the financial burden up front before your insurance kicks in.

Overall, having insurance is highly important. While it can at times be a rather annoying or unnecessary cost that gets deducted at the end of the month, it will be highly useful for when something tragic happens. By following the 5 steps mentioned above, you can cut as many costs as possible.

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