Home insurance is one of the most important investments you make in your home and in your security. If you have a mortgage on your home, you are required to carry home insurance. Even if you don’t have a mortgage, having home insurance protects your largest investment from all the things that can happen to your home and also on your property.
It is very important to have home insurance but of course no one wants to over pay for their home insurance. There are many different factors that go in to the rate that you pay for your home insurance. Some of them you can control and others you can’t. There is no way you can change where your home is located, one of the factors that is considered is where you home is located. The farther you are away from a fire hydrant, the bigger a risk you are.
Before you go looking for home insurance you need to take a good look at your credit report and your credit score. Your FICO score affects the rate you will pay for your home owner’s insurance policy. Manu companies use a credit based insurance score to determine the base rate that you pay. By looking at your credit score you can find any items that are incorrect and get them removed from your report which will improve your score. Improving your score which should lower your rate.
Do you own a car? If you do then you should get your car insurance and home owners insurance from the same company. There is usually a discount for having both policies with them and it can be quite a considerable discount.
Be sure that you have fire alarms and CO detectors in your home. This is a question that you are asked when you apply for your home owners insurance and if you answer yes, you will get a discount. It is also important to have an alarm system which can also get you a discount as well
Your insurance company will do a drive by of your home. There are things that will affect your rate. Do you have large trees in your yard? Are there limbs that overhang your house? These have the potential to be blown off in a storm and cause property damage. You would be wise to trim them back before your inspection. Also be sure that your roof and chimney are in good repair.
If you have a dog, it is a liability and will result in a higher insurance rate especially if it is one of the breeds which are considered dangerous. A swimming pool also needs to be fenced in but most likely will still cost you additional money to have on your policy. You can talk to your company about what will save you money.
Raising your deductible is one way to save the most money. If your deductible is $500 raising it to $1000 will be a good option. Ask your insurance company what discounts they offer. They may offer a discount if you are over 55 years old. You really have to ask them what discounts they give, they may not offer them automatically.
The best way to save money is to be savvy, ask a lot of questions. Call multiple insurance companies and compare rates, Be prepared to change companies if your company is not willing to give you a better rate. In this economy, chances are they are going to want to keep you and to make sure you are happy. They will pay you with a good rate for being loyal.