You know that homeowner’s insurance covers the home’s structure itself, but are you aware that coverage also applies to the contents of your house? Do you own extremely valuable items like paintings, jewelry or electronics? If so, a quality policy will provide you with the coverage you need for those items. Use the following advice to get the best policy at the best price.
Renter’s insurance is important. The house is protected by fire insurance bought by your landlord, but your own belongings are not. Renters insurance is the type of policy you need to purchase to replace your belongings if a natural disaster, fire or burglary should occur.
Lower your homeowner’s insurance annual premiums by as much as five percent by maintaining a security system that is directly tied to your neighborhood police station. All that is required to qualify for this discount is to verify that you have central monitoring, which can be through a bill or insurance company contract.
Make sure that you have a record of everything that is covered under your home insurance. Make a detailed list, and take pictures of all valuables. It also helps to keep receipts for big ticket items. There is free software online that will enable you to create a home inventory, room by room. If you need to make a claim, having all this information on hand will help to speed up the process.
A recent inventory of your home will help your claim be processed much faster. People that have had a tragedy in their home will let you know how difficult it becomes to recall everything that was lost. Photos and receipts are the ideal method for informing the company of the included belongings.
Insurance Company
As soon as you pay off your mortgage, contact your home insurance company. There is a good chance that you will get your premium reduced. An insurance company views someone without a mortgage in a positive light, thinking that they are more likely to take good care of their house if they own it outright.
While you are preparing your claim, make sure you have a good idea of the average price of repairs from several contractors. If you have to make some emergency repairs, keep all your receipts. If you are unable to live in your home as a result of damages sustained, you may have to pay to stay in a hotel or motel. If so, save your receipts and submit them to your insurance company for reimbursement.
When considering insurance for your home, be sure to sign up with a deal that has a guaranteed replacement value clause written into it. This will ensure that your house will be covered no matter what the cost of materials and labor currently are. This helps if you are in an area that has seen and will see an increase in construction costs and property value.
To save money on your homeowners insurance talk to your agent and see if the company provides discounts for installing additional smoke detectors. Many older homes lack them in areas that are considered standard places to install today and many insurance companies will provide a discount as an incentive for you to add more.
Home security can lower your premium. These systems can be inexpensive to install and give you piece of mind both while you are at home and while you are away at work, or even when you go out of town on vacation.
When buying a homeowner’s insurance policy, what is excluded from coverage is sometimes more critical that what the policy does cover. Flood coverage, for example, is not typically covered in most homeowner’s policies, but can be purchased as a separate policy. The same is true for other natural disasters such as earthquakes.
Flood Insurance
If you are looking to purchase homeowner’s insurance, set up a security system for your home. This can lower you premiums by as much as 5 percent. Make sure that your security system is connected to a police station or central station so that any burglaries or attempted burglaries can be documented for the insurance company.
You may think you don’t live close enough to a body of water to have to worry about flood insurance…but think again. Before you decide you don’t need it, assess the flood risk for your geographical area. You will be surprised at the unexpected parts of the country which have experienced floods in the past year or two, and if you live in or near on of these areas, flood insurance may be right for you. FEMA.gov is one site that provides information on flood risks for all parts of the U.S.
Make sure to get homeowner’s insurance when you purchase a house. People sometimes forget about insurance because they are too busy dealing with other matters. If something disastrous happens to your home, such a fire, hurricane, or flood, your homeowner’s insurance will help pay all or some of the repair costs.
Think about adding liability coverage to your home insurance policy to keep bodily injury covered. Such coverage gives you protection if harm comes to someone else while in your home or damage is caused by someone within your home. If your children hurt the home of your neighbor, liability coverage kicks in.
To pay lower home insurance premiums, install a home security system. Insurance companies typically give a discount of 5% or more, to homes that have a maintained security system. You may have to pay more for your security system up front, but the purchase will save you money in the long run.
It should be noted that the more insurance coverage that you get for your home, the more you will need to pay on the rates. That said, this article will help you get the most coverage for the lowest price. Follow the tips here, and you can save a lot on your home insurance policy.
Frequently, an insurance company will offer non-smoking discounts for their policies. Don’t allow smokers in your house. You need to inquire to see if your insurance company is one of the many that offer this discount. This can help you save 5-15% on insurance costs.