Home Insurance Shopping Tips

A Guide To Low Cost Home Insurance

Insurance-Rates-Online makes it easy to find the best homeowners insurance rates.  As you start comparing home insurance quotes, keep these tips in mind.

Review Your Policy Annually
By reviewing on a regular basis, you can make sure that your home insurance coverage includes any new purchases or improvements you’ve made, and allows you to adjust for inflation.

Stay With the Same Company
As long as the rates are competitive, there’s no need to change insurance providers.  In fact, some insurance carriers begin discounting premiums after three to five years of continuous coverage.

Absorb Small Claims
Having a claim-free record will greatly affect your home insurance rates because you will be classified as low-risk.  So if your budget can handle paying for small repairs that just exceed your deductible, the savings on your annual premium will make it worthwhile.

Before Buying That New House, Get a CLUE
CLUE stands for Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange, a report which will provide the claims history for the home.  Premium quotes will be lower if few claims have been reported for that address.  This inexpensive report is available through Choicetrust.com.  Other important considerations when buying a new home include:

• Age – Make sure the electrical, plumbing and heating systems are in good working condition, or preferably have been modernized.  Older systems are considered higher risk for fire or water damage.
• Construction – Ideal construction materials vary by geography.  A wind resistant brick home is preferred in the east, but a frame house is superior in the west because it will resist earthquake damage. 
• Location – Avoid living on a flood plain, since flooding is not covered by homeowners insurance.
• Amount – Do not base the amount of coverage on the home’s purchase price, because you do not need to insure the land too.  Only insure the buildings and their contents.

Stay Safe
Making your home safe helps keep your rates low.  Simple additions, such as smoke detectors, fire extinguishers, dead-bolt locks and burglar alarms will affect your insurance quotes.  Some insurers, but not all, offer deeper discounts for sophisticated security systems that include sprinklers or monitoring services that signal police or fire departments.

Be Prepared
Your insurance agent can suggest home modifications which enhance your home and further reduce your rates, such as reinforcing your roof, adding storm shutters, or removing trees or bushes that are too close to the house in areas prone to brush fires.

Multiple Policy Discount
Purchasing home insurance and auto insurance from the same company provides one of the biggest discounts available.  The same benefit exists if you combine home insurance and motorcycle insurance, or renter’s insurance and auto or motorcycle insurance.

Home Inventory
Make a list of all of your possessions, preferably with photos or video of the objects.  Include your furniture, computer equipment, electronics, appliances, antiques, artwork, jewelry, and any other high-value items.  Don’t forget to list low cost property as well; replacing it after a fire can really add up. 

Choose Pets Wisely
Your home insurance rates will be affected by the type of pets you have.  The most common questions involve the breed of the family dog.  Sorry, but if you have a Pit Bull, Rotweiler, or Doberman, homeowners insurance may be more difficult to secure and the rates will be higher.

Maintain Good Credit
Your credit score may be one of the items used to evaluate the risk of homeowners insurance.  Having a good credit rating could result in a lower home insurance quote, though the amount of its effect will vary by insurance company.

Senior Discount
Statistics have proven that since seniors and retirees tend to spend more time at home, they are more likely to spot a fire or other peril sooner, which makes their homes a better risk for coverage.  Ask if you’re eligible for this discount if you work from home.

Don’t Smoke
Not only will this lower your health insurance quotes, but it will affect your home insurance rates as well.  Since thousands of house fires are caused each year by smokers, some companies offer better quotes if all household residents are non-smokers.

Ready to find low cost home owners insurance?  Just enter your zip code and get started now!