Insurance World

What is the best homeowners insurance for you? The answer is probably not that obvious to you because most of us have not taken the time to understand our homeowner’s insurance. We would much rather turn that responsibility over to the insurance professionals. There is nothing wrong with that approach but it still leaves you a little bit too uninvolved over a very important insurance purchase. People have a natural fear of the unknown. We like to steer clear of things that are unfamiliar to us. Our insurance is often one of those things that we would rather just avoid. That may come in part from the old days when insurance was purchased under pressure from the insurance agent. That method of sales has just about vanished in property and casualty insurance. People willingly contact agencies about policies and coverage. The agent is more like a consultant these days. The best homeowners insurance is usually purchased when we ourselves have a better understanding of our policy and how we want to be serviced. The insurance atmosphere is much more professional and there are more ways to purchase insurance. Purchasing online or by telephone is becoming as common as purchasing from the local agent.

The homeowner’s policy itself has a couple of integral features and benefits to consider. Buying replacement cost insurance verses actual cash value insurance is one of your most important decisions. Replacement cost homeowner’s policies settle any loss by replacing or repairing your dwelling and its contents with like kind and quality without depreciation. Actual cash value allows for depreciation and expects you to make up the difference as an out of pocket expense.

The most important cost savings decision that you will make is the size of the deductible. It makes sense to have as high a deductible as possible on your home policy because of the infrequency of claims.

The best homeowner’s insurance for you revolves around how you want to do business, whether to purchase replacement cost or actual cash value, and the size of your deductible. These three areas will lead you in the right direction.

Copyright 2006 Stacey Zimmerman

When you take out a mortgage on your home, the lender will require you to show proof of homeowner’s insurance on the property. The lender wants to protect their investment. However, whether or not you have a mortgage on your property or not, you should have homeowner’s insurance to protect yourself in case of loss.

The biggest mistake most homeowners make when getting homeowner’s insurance is purchasing coverage they don’t need. For example, living in a high elevated area should mean they you do not need to carry flood insurance. Many homeowners find themselves paying for flood insurance when there is no possibility of being flooded. However, if you live in an area that could easily be flooded, make sure you do carry this extra flood insurance on your property.

Another item to check on is how far away you live from the fire department, as well as a fire hydrant. The closer you live to either one of these could significantly reduce your rates. Your insurance agent should ask you for this information, however, if they don’t, make sure you give the information to them to see if it could lower your rates.

If you are like many homeowners, you may find that you have your life insurance with one company and your auto insurance with another. If you have all of your insurance policies with the same company, it could give you as much as a twenty percent discount on your insurance rates. You may also want to ask your insurance agent about how much you can save by raising your deductible on your homeowner’s insurance.

Another way to save on your homeowner’s insurance is to ask them what type of discounts you would be entitled to if you made changes to your property. By adding security measures, such as an alarm system or even double locks on doors and windows, may entitle you to several discounts.

If you are the owner of a dog, you’ll want to make sure your insurance agent is aware that you have one. Unfortunately, if you have a dog that is on the list of dangerous dogs to have, it may either raise your rates or they may not insure you at all. In order to protect yourself, however, you’ll want to check with them to find out where your dog fits in to the picture and you may end up making further security measures regarding your dog. A large fenced in area for your dog may help to reduce your rates.

Another important matter is renter’s insurance. This only applies to you if you have a rental unit in your home, but it will protect you and your renter’s for any loss of items due to an unforeseen incident in your home, such as theft or fire. Many landlords require their renters to provide proof of renter’s insurance before they move in. If they do not have renter’s insurance, the loss of their items may fall back on you.

The most important thing you can do to save money on your homeowner’s insurance is to price compare your home insurance once every year. Make sure if you have made any updates to your property, you update your current insurance company. Insurance companies, along with their rates, change quickly and if you’ve had the same insurance company for years, you might be surprised at how much you could’ve saved over the years.