48 Home Insurance Savings Tips -- Guaranteed Steps To Very Cheap Homeowners Insurance Rates

Sunday, April 26, 2009

8 Very Easy Tips For Lowering Your Homeowners Insurance Costs

By William Hazelhurst

No one enjoys paying for homeowners insurance but unfortunately it is a necessary evil for most of us. That does not mean that you need to pay through the nose for it and here are 8 very easy tips to lower the cost of your homeowners insurance.

1. Shop around. By comparing prices from a number of insurance companies you will almost certainly be able to lower your premium payments by a substantial amount. This could seem to be obvious, but research suggests that a surprisingly large proportion of people either simply renew their existing plan or ask for just one or two quotes. Many insurance web sites automatically compare dozens of plans for you thereby making this one of the simplest ways to reduce your home insurance bill.

2. Purchase your insurance online. If you purchase your plan online you will often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices as there are lower administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

3. Combine your contents and buildings plans. Many insurance companies will allow you a discount when you take out both types of home insurance with them and this normally works out less expensive than buying the two plans from different companies.

4. Pay upfront. While the vast majority of insurance companies let you pay your premiums each month many of them will charge interest for this. So, if you are able to afford to pay a full year's premium in advance, then this will work out cheaper in the longer term.

5. Don't submit claims for small amounts of money. Putting in many small claims might raise your insurance costs because your insurance company may view you as a greater risk and raise your premiums. You may also lose any no claims discount that your policy has. Of course, you're entitled to submit a claim for anything that your policy covers but you should ask yourself if putting in a small claim is worth the hassle and any consequent future increase in costs.

6. Consider arranging for a high voluntary excess on your plan. Insurance policies feature something which is known as an 'excess' and this basically means that the plan will not pay out on claims under a certain value. in some cases if you opt to increase your excess your premiums will be reduced.

7. Increase the security on your home. Raising your home security with better door locks, window locks, lighting, and alarm systems will normally result in reduced premiums.

8. Consider lowering your level of cover. A lot of plans feature benefits which you may not need such as cover for personal possessions when you are traveling or 'free' legal advice. Study your policy and see which sections of it you really need.

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