8 Simple Tips For Getting Cheaper Home Insurance
Post date: April 25th, 2009 |
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Nobody enjoys paying for homeowners insurance but for most of us it is a necessary evil. That does not mean that you have to pay through the nose for it though and so here are 8 simple tips to reduce the cost of your homeowners insurance.
1. Take your time and shop around. If you compare prices from several different insurance companies you will most likely be able to lower your premiums by a considerable amount. This might seem obvious, but research has shown that an astonishingly large proportion of people either just renew their current plan or ask for only one or two quotes. A lot of online insurance sites will automatically compare a large number of of plans for you therefore making this one of the easiest ways to lower your homeowners insurance bill.
2. Buy your insurance online. If you get your plan online you can often find that you can get a discount of anything up to 20% on normal prices as there are lower administration costs involved in purchasing online and the savings made can be passed on to you.
3. Combine both your contents and buildings plans. Most insurers will allow you a discount if you arrange both forms of home insurance with them and this generally proves to be less expensive than arranging the two policies from different insurers.
4. Pay your premiums upfront. Although most insurance companies let you pay your premiums each month many of them will charge interest for this. Therefore, if you are able to afford to pay the cost of a full year’s premium in advance, then this will work out less costly in the long run.
5. Do not submit claims for small amounts of money. Submitting many small claims will often raise your insurance costs because your insurer may consider you to be a higher risk and raise your premiums. You may also lose any no claims discount which your plan has. Naturally, you are entitled to submit a claim for anything which your policy covers but ask yourself whether submitting a small claim is worth the trouble and any possible future increase in costs.
6. Think about arranging for a substantial voluntary excess on your plan. Insurance policies feature something which is known as an ‘excess’ and this basically means that your plan won’t pay for claims below a certain value. in some cases when you opt to increase your excess your premiums will be lower.
7. Strengthen security for your property. Raising your home security with better window locks, door locks, outdoor lighting, and alarm systems will normally lead to reduced premiums.
8. Reduce your level of cover. Many policies feature benefits which you might not need like cover for personal possessions when you are traveling or ‘free’ legal advice. Examine your plan and see what parts of it you really need.
Lower the premiums on your homeowner insurance by asking for a free, no-obligation home insurance quote without delay.