If you own a home, having homeowners insurance is extremely important. Homeowners insurance will not only protect the structure of your home in the event of a fire, flood, or other natural disaster (depending on the terms of your policy), it will also cover your personal property inside your home. As such, if you own a home, homeowners insurance is critical. In fact, if you have a mortgage on your home, the lender may require you to carry homeowners insurance as a condition of the loan.
Although homeowners insurance provides great protection, this does not mean that you have to pay a large amount of money to obtain it. There are many companies that offer homeowners insurance policies. As such, the first step in your quest to obtain coverage is to get homeowners insurance quotes.
A quote is simply a price given to you by an insurer showing you how much it would cost to insure your home based upon your home’s square footage and the amounts of coverage. The quotes are usually based upon annual prices (as opposed to monthly) and are subject to change.
Obtaining an insurance quote is easy. You can either call an insurance company to request a quote, or you can use an insurance broker. Using a broker should be free as the broker gets paid from the insurance company you pick. By using a broker, you will get many quotes at one time. This is faster and more efficient than having to call each insurance company individually.
If you do not want to talk on the phone or deal with a broker, you have another option. Many insurance companies will allow you to get instant, free quotes over the Internet. Simply go online and get instant, free quotes from an insurer’s website. In fact, there are websites that will search numerous insurance websites at once so you can get numerous quotes at one time.
The good news about quotes is that they are free. However, as mentioned above, because insurance quotes are subject to change, a quote should be treated as an approximation. Additionally, the price you pay for your insurance policy this year may be different next year.
It is important that you refrain from purchasing the insurance policy with the cheapest quote solely because it is the cheapest. Remember, you are protecting your home and everything in it. As such, the reputation of the insurer and the financial stability of the insurer should be a large part of your decision. It is tempting to obtain the cheapest policy in order to save money, but in the event of a disaster, you do not want to have trouble collecting the insurance money or hassle with unfriendly, non-paying insurance companies. If this happens, although you may have saved some money in the short run, the stress of having to deal with such a situation is not worth the “savings.”
On the other hand, the most expensive policy does not automatically mean that you will get the best insurance, best service, and most reputable insurer. As such, review all of your quotes carefully and pick the best company for your needs.
Remember, get a quote before purchasing insurance. You can contact insurers by phone, use a broker, or use the Internet. Choose your policy based upon more that merely the price of the policy. Consider the reputation and financial stability of your insurer in making your decision.