You can receive discounts for smoke detectors, burglar alarms, etc. By installing a sprinkler system or fire and burglar alarm that rings at the police station or other monitoring facility, you may receive additional discounts on your premium.
If you’ve made some changes to your home or behavior, you can uncover additional discounts. Did you quit smoking last year? move into a gated community? do you live within five miles of the nearest fire station? those factors – and many others – make you a safer bet for your insurance company. Meaning, you can get a significant discount on your insurance premium. Something as simple as installing deadbolt locks and smoke detectors could nab you a discount of as much as 5 percent, experts note. Here are some other ways to save on your homeowners insurance….
4. Increase Your Deductible
Raise your deductible to lower your premium rate. If you have a $500 deductible, consider raising that. Make sure your deductibles are set to an amount you can comfortably afford. Explore "package discounts" that may reduce your rates if you insure your home and cars with the same company.
Install dead bolt locks on all exterior doors. This will deter break-ins -- a worthy goal in itself-- and often will qualify you for a premium discount. If you have a nonsmoking household, be sure to let your agent or insurer know. Smokers in a home represent a higher risk because of the possibility of an accidental fire.
Feb 08, 2022, 1:55pmupdated on feb 09, 2022 by: sandrina rodrigues, senior digital producer the cost of insuring a home depends on several factors , including the deductible you choose, the value of your home and belongings, your insurance claim history, and other variables, such as the age and location of your home. The location of your home and the surrounding environment, including the type of weather your state experiences can also affect the price. Generally, the less risk you have the lower your price may be, according to liberty mutual. Some of those factors, like the age of your home are out of your control, but there are others you can control to help lower your costs.
5. Protect Your Home
A sturdy roof is one of the first defenses to protecting your family, your belongings and the structure of your home. To that end, the age and condition — and sometimes, even shape and materials — of your roof can be considered by an insurance company when calculating homeowners insurance premiums. If your roof is too old or is in visibly poor condition, some companies may deny coverage. To keep your roof in good condition, it’s important to conduct regular inspections and perform repairs when necessary to help minimize the financial impact if a loss were to occur.
Dropping coverage to lower your premium may save you some cash in the short term. But if disaster strikes, you’ll be left footing the bill when it’s time to rebuild your home and replace lost belongings. Home insurance protects you from paying out of pocket for expensive costs. “what you're insuring your home for is the cost to repair and rebuild,” says carole walker of denver, executive director of the rocky mountain insurance information association. “it is one of the most important financial investments you're going to make. ”you should also avoid dropping other necessary policies beyond homeowners insurance, such as a flood insurance policy from the national flood insurance program.
Insurers use a credit-based insurance score to set rates in most states. Using credit to set homeowners, renters, condo and mobile home insurance prices is not allowed in california, maryland and massachusetts. Because of this pricing model, a person with poor credit pays an average of 76% more for homeowners insurance than someone with good credit in most states, according to nerdwallet’s 2022 analysis of home insurance rates from quadrant information services. You can build your credit by making consistent on-time payments and keeping your credit utilization ratio under 30%.
If you want to save money on your homeowners insurance —who doesn’t? — there are numerous common-sense methods to position yourself for the best rates. Chief among them: protect your credit score. In other words, pay your bills on time, keep your credit card balances low (or eliminate credit card debt altogether), don’t seek cash advances and check your credit report regularly to make sure there aren’t any errors. “there are many things that factor into a policy premium, but credit score is a big one,’’ said michal brower, spokesperson for state farm insurance agency in florida. “time has shown that a credit score is a very accurate predictor of risk and it quite often reflects the type of policy rates that a person will qualify for.