Apart from if your home is being financed and you still have a mortgage on it, you can actually choose to NOT insure your home. But in spite of this you will agree with me that folks still prefer to keep a home insurance policy even after they have cleared their mortgage. They do this because they know that their home is a very valuable investment that they must protect by all means.
But even though we are willing to make much sacrifice to get proper home insurance coverage, we’ll be very happy to get it at a far lower rate. I’ll show you how to do just that with time-tested steps you can take to ensure you get the best home insurance coverage for you at the best rate possible.
Do not insure your house along with the land it is standing on as this will cost you more but quite unnecessary. A good number of people pay much more than they should on home insurance because they make this mistake. Insuring your home for the purchased price without subtracting the cost of the land it stands on is a big mistake.
If you made this mistake quickly meet with your agent and review your coverage. Deduct the land’s cost and use only the cost of your home and its contents.
Your premium will be cheaper and you’ll still have enough coverage if you do this right. Since insurance is for things that can’t afford to lose, insuring the land which can neither be lost or damaged isn’t a smart move.
The amount you pay is affected by your credit rating. The lower your credit rating, the higher the rates you attract. If your credit rating is poor then you’ve been missing important payments. This is a behavior that most insurance carriers believe will be exhibited in the way you treat your premiums. This marks you out as a bigger risk and so justifies a higher rate.
Therefore, it will do you much good to clear all your bills promptly. It makes it easier for you to get lower rates among other things.
Making your premium payments once every year will save you much when compared to monthly payments. An insurance carrier is compelled to send you 12 notices for monthly payments as against one for annual payments. This increases their overhead.
Furthermore, each check you send attracts a transaction charge too. twelve checks are 12 transactions which incur 12 separate transaction charges. And, believe it or not, these extra costs are ultimately built into your rates.
Therefore choose annual payments instead if you intend to make savings this way. What you will save could be as much as 8.5% of your total monthly premiumss over the course of just a year.
Make the exterior of your house fire-safe and you will bring down your home insurance rate. Having things that are quite inflammable or that help combustion around your dwelling will make you pay more expensive premiums. Although cutting bushes around your home looks simple, you’ll get lower rates if you do maintain them at a distance of at least 10 feet from your structures. The likelihood of a fire in a home is one very strong factor that determines your home insurance rate.
Motion-sensitive lighting lowers your home’s risk of burglary and, as a result, makes it easier for you to get cheaper home insurance premiums. Thieves generally don’t like to operate in any place they could be easily noticed or caught. Because thieves avoid homes with such lighting, you lower your home’s risk of burglary and, by extension, your rates. Watch free home owners insurance quotes.