Get cheap home insurance
Cheap Home Insurance
Making use of the wide variety of discounts that are available to you will
help you, put together the cheap home insurance that provides affordable coverage.
The discounts are for various factors, ranging from the type of building material
used to build your home to how close you live to a fire station. These discounts
will vary by state and insurance company. Here are some tips that will help
you lower your insurance bill:
- Shop around
Check with several different home insurance companies to get cheap home insurance
rate quotes (an independent insurance agent can provide rate quotes from a
variety of companies). Do your friends or family members like their home insurance
company?
- Raise your deductible
The deductible is the amount of money you have to pay toward a loss before
your insurance kicks in. Typically, home insurance deductibles start at $250.
Increase your deductible to:
$500 and save up to 12 percent on your premiums.
$1,000 and save up to 24 percent.
$2,500 and save up to 30 percent.
$5,000 and save up to 37 percent.
Make sure you can afford to pay the higher deductible out of pocket if something
should happen.
- Buy your home and auto policies from the same company
Many companies will give a multiline discount if you buy both home insurance
and auto coverage from them.
- Consider insurance when buying a home
If you're looking at buying a home, think about the cost of insuring the home.
A newer home's electrical, heating, and plumbing systems and overall structure
are likely to be in better condition than those of an older home. This can
lead to a discount on your premiums.
You'll also want to consider the construction of the home and where you live.
If you live on the Atlantic Coast, you'll want the house to be able to stand
up to wind damage, while on the Pacific Coast, you need to keep earthquakes
in mind.
- Insure your home, not the land
While your home and its contents are at risk from fire, theft, windstorms,
and other perils, the land your home sits on is not. Don't include the value
of the land in deciding how much home insurance you need to buy. Your agent
can help you assess the coverage you need.
- Improve security and safety
Items such as dead bolt locks, burglar alarms, and smoke detectors can usually
bring discounts of 5 percent each, depending on the company. Your insurance
company may also offer a significant discount of 15 or 20 percent if you install
a sophisticated home-security system. If you're thinking about buying such
a system, check with your insurer to see which systems you'll get a discount
for.
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