Most people purchase their home insurance without giving it much thought. They usually sign on with whichever insurance company their real estate agent recommended. But they usually ended up paying too much for their insurance. Here are three steps to help reduce your home insurance cost.
1. One way most people overpay their home insurance is by not deducting the value of the land, and only insuring the value of the home. If you paid $150,000 for your house you don’t necessarily need to insure the full $150,000. You only need coverage for the cost of the structure and not the land beneath it. The insurance policy should be enough to repair or rebuild the structure of your home, it does not need to rebuild the home and buy the land again.
2. You can also save money for adding safety equipments to your home, such as installing smoke & fire alarms, fire sprinklers, and intruder alarm systems. In most cases, the safer your house, the lower you should expect to pay for your insurance. However, check with your insurance company to make sure what safety features you have (or plan to add) will actually go directly in reducing your insurance cost.
3. Insurance rates vary dramatically from one company to the next, so the only way to know you’re getting the best rate is to get quotes from as many companies as you can and compare them. You should try to get at least three or four home insurance quotes, and they should all come from different insurance carriers. This will ensure you are increasing your chance of getting a much better quote, as well as giving you better bargaining power.
When you’re shopping for home insurance, just keep in mind that the more you know, the more you’ll save in the long run. Happy shopping!
