Everybody who owns a home needs to insure it. Not every homeowner knows how to get the best policies and the best bargains though. Homeowner’s insurance is such a broad field and the costs are so high, just a little learning can have a very big effect. Here are a few tips to stretch your insurance dollar further.
There are a few things you are able to do in order to cut your insurance premiums. First of all, have a security system installed. You’ll see that this can actually lower the cost of your insurance by up to 5%! Remember to notify and offer proof of the new system to your insurance provider. A second round of renovations that will help would include the installation of smoke alarms. These are even better – they can save you up to 10% a year.
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.
If you suffer damage to your home that requires a claim to your homeowner’s insurance policy, don’t hesitate to take emergency steps to protect your home. Cover any broken windows, dry out wet carpeting, and secure any valuables that survived. If further damage results from your failure to protect your home, it may be considered negligence and not be covered.
Consider asking your insurance agent for a home owner’s policy review once you reach the age of 55. Home owner’s insurance often offer senior citizen discounts. If your company doesn’t offer this discount, take the time to shop around.
Like most homeowners, you want to keep your insurance premiums as low as possible. Installing and maintaining a high-quality home security system can lower your yearly premiums by five percent or more. Make sure that it’s centrally monitored by a security company or linked to a local police station. Your insurance company will want to see evidence that your system is monitored before they give you the discount.
Before a flood strikes, you need to know what to do to be sure that your home is insured against floods. The only way to insure against the risk of floods in the US is via the National Flood Insurance Program (NFID), administered by FEMA. Insurance companies work with FEMA to sell coverage to homeowners. Therefore, always have a plan in place to cover flood protection, and know whom to contact at your insurance company in order to arrange for it.
Having an alarm system or home security system will lower your home owner’s insurance premiums. The cost is typically low to install them and they keep your home safe at all times.
Value Items
If you have high-value items, they may not be covered completely by typical homeowner’s insurance. For example, expensive jewelry may need to be appraised, and then the insurer will issue a rider to cover the item in case it’s stolen or damaged. Make sure to mention high-value items to your agent, to make the process of filing a claim easier, should you need to do so.
A security system can help save you much money concerning your insurance costs. You will have both peace of mind and a discount. Protecting your home makes you a lower risk of filing a claim. Your savings on insurance premiums will help you cover some or all of the cost of installing the security system.
You can save thousands of dollars and years of payments by making your mortgage payment on a bi-weekly basis, instead of monthly. Ask your mortgage holder about setting you up on this payment program. Since there are 52 weeks in a year, you will end up making an additional couple of payments without breaking the bank or your budget.
Home owner’s insurance can help to protect your home from a variety of issues. If there is damage that is done to your home, it can be covered and paid for using your insurance. This can include damage and lost property from theft or even some specified disasters. Every home owner should have a policy.
Think about raising your deductible if you want to lower your annual premiums. Ensure you have the money on hand to cover smaller claims as your insurance will no longer pay for them.
If you are looking to purchase insurance from a company, do some checking on the financial health and stability of that insurer. You need to feel sure that they have the resources to pay your claim if you ever need to make one. You should aim to do this each quarter after you sign up for a policy.
Hopefully these homeowner’s insurance tips have been of some benefit to you. This insurance is for helping you in case of disaster; you want to get the best, most cost-effective coverage you can. If you ever need to make a claim, you will appreciate every bit of time and effort you take to find the best deal on homeowner’s insurance now.
There should always be a bare-minimum coverage limit that will allow you enough funding to rebuild your home. The cost of construction goes up after a disaster, for example. Keep this in mind so that if the worst were to occur, you’ll have the funds you need in order to rebuild. Deal with this before something does happen.