6 Homeowner Insurance Tips

The more high-risk factors in the area you have your home, the more expensive homeowner’s insurance will be. So if you live in a region know for being passed by notable waterways, earthquake fault lines or other perilous determinants, you will have to pay more for your homeowner insurance. But even if your home is situated in a safe area you might end up paying a significant amount of money for your insurance. Listed below are a couple of steps to help you minimize the final cost.

1. Install smoke alarms and a security system

If you have a security system, that is connected to the police station, you will manage to lower your homeowner premium by around 5%, not to mention the anti-theft benefits. For getting a discount, you have to present a contract or a bill to the insurance company. Another way of obtaining a discount is by installing a smoke alarm. Even though it is a device found in many homes nowadays, some older properties don’t have them.

2. Increase the deductible

A common practice on the health or car insurance market is lowering the premiums that must be paid every year if you raise your deductible. But when you’re having a higher deductible, there will be an issue with the small claims or problems that cost somewhere around a couple of hundred dollars, like broken windows, that will have to be repaired on the homeowner’s money. You can estimate if it is worth this switch – having to pay for small repairs, while paying less for the whole homeowner insurance.

3. Choose multiple insurance contracts from one company

Most insurance companies provide more than one type of insurance, so it might be a good idea for your financial situation to search multiple policy discounts. And if these insurance services can meet your needs when it comes to health, auto and home, you can obtain a discount of at least 10% after acquiring multiple insurance contracts from only one insurance company. You can also ask your insurance company where you have your homeowner insurance for a quote for other kind of insurances that might interest you.

4. Research the additional construction fees for insurance

If you’re planning on building an additional structure to the house, you should research the construction materials market first. There are certain materials, like wood, that will raise the homeowner insurance, due to its flammable character, but you can always choose materials like cement or steel to build the additional structures and the insurance’s price will be lower. Another factor to take into consideration when it comes to your homeowner insurance’s price is building a pool. Not only swimming pools, but even trampolines or other devices that can cause injuries will increase your insurance premiums. For those homeowners who think that this kind of joy is priceless, an extra fee will not be a problem.

5. Finish the mortgage payments

The insurance companies tend to believe that the homeowners that do not have any more mortgage payments to make will preserve their houses in a more careful way. In this situation, homeowners will pay smaller premiums every year.

6. Review and compare the insurance policies

Investors can lower the annual premiums by making policy comparisons and reviews a couple of times a year. This method is based on comparing their insurance policy’s costs with other policies. This way, they will know if they have to adjust it or not.