There is no doubt that the cost of homeowners insurance can vary quite a bit and in many cases the difference could be hundreds of dollars. This would depend on the insurance company from where you decide to buy your insurance premium. If you are keen on getting the right information about the best discount for homeowners as far as insurance is concerned, then you have to gather the right knowledge and information. We are happy to put down certain bits of information that one should considered when buying homeowners insurance.
Shop Around
You must believe that insurance is a commodity and there is extreme competition surrounding it. Hence, you must spend some time doing your research and do some shopping around. It will surely take some time but it is worth it. You could take inputs from friends and also make use of Yellow Pages and online reviews and others sources of information. You also could get in touch with NAIC or National Association of Insurance Commissioners. This could help you to get more information about the various insurers in your state. You also could information and inputs about complaints. You should also check on the financial stability of the companies and there are rating companies like Standard & Poor whose rating could come in very handy.
Try to Raise Deductibles
Deductibles are important and you should have a clear idea about the same. The higher your deductible is the more you can save as far as your premiums are concerned. Put in simple words, a deductible is the money you are bound to pay for a loss before the insurance company gets into the picture and starts making the claim payments. Most insurance companies recommended a deductible of $500. If you are able to raise your deductible to around $1,000 you could save as much as 25 percent in premium cost. There could be separate deductible norms if your home is situated in a disaster-prone area. Hence, all these things must be taken into account before you go in for a homeowners’ insurance policy.
Rebuilding Cost & Actual Cost Of Buying Home
You have to understand that the land on which your home is built is not under any risk of theft or natural disasters. Hence, you should not include the value of the land when you decide to buy homeowners insurance. Doing so will be naïve because you will certainly end up paying much higher insurance.
Buy Auto & Home Policies From One Insurer
It makes much better sense to buy home polices and automobile policies from the same insurer. This is because insurance companies offer discount ranging from 5 to 15% if you buy both the policies from them. Buying it from different insurance companies would mean that you will be paying more. However, research on other aspects of the insurance policy must be made before setting for the right insurer.
Spend Money On Improving Disaster Resistant Capabilities
You could take inputs from your insurance agent and find out as to the possible steps that you could take for making your home resistant to natural disasters like storms and heavy rains. This could help you to bring down your premium costs quite a bit. If you have old homes, you can use retrofitting and make them stronger. You also could make the plumbing, heating and electrical systems modern and this could reduce water and fire damage.
Improving Home Security
You could also spend some money on various things that could improve home security. These could include burglar alarms, smoke detector, or even dead-bolt locks. The insurance companies may be ready to offer you a neat 5% discount on your homeowners’ insurance policy and when you consider the savings over a period of time, it will be significant to say the least.
Look For Other Discounts
Insurance are capable of offering several types of discounts. They like to keep it under wraps in some states. For example the insurance rates for retired people is more than people who are young because they stay more at homes and the chances of burglary and robbery are lesser. You could get a discount of around 5% percent if you are above the age of 55 years. If you are a member of some professional associations or employer associations you could get lower insurance policy rates.
Summing Up
Hence there are many things to consider as far as discounts for homeowners’ insurance are concerned. For example, if you have a good credit record it could work to your advantage quite a bit.
