Bad news, you have to spend money on insurance. Good news! We have 9 ways to get cheaper house insurance without a lot of effort.
Home insurance is mandatory after getting a house, but home and contents insurance gets expensive. Those who barely manage to complete the mortgage payments might find it hard to pay for the costly insurance. Even your general insurance company won’t charge you a lot if you check some factors first.
So let’s check out our brilliant ways to get cheaper house insurance.
9 ways to get cheaper house insurance
1. Do some research
As soon as you get a house, you’ll be bombarded by many companies to get their insurance, but you don’t have to listen to them. Instead, talk to your friends, family, and property agent to get an idea about home insurance prices.
If they have been working with an insurance company, they can give you a good idea about a quality budgeted insurance company. This might take some weeks or even a month, but you might be able to find a company that won’t charge you a lot. You should also look for companies paying the home sum insured to cover emergency expenses.
Last but not least, check out Soho’s finance section for tons of tips and tricks on home insurance.
2. Increase your deductible
You need to pay some loss before you can claim your insurance and get it from the company. That specific amount is called a deductible, and a higher deductible can help you get more premium. If your company recommends adding a $600 deductible, you should try to increase the amount to $1100. That way, you can save up to 30% on your premiums.
3. Don’t include the rebuilding or replacement costs
Many people get confused and include the cost of land in their insurance. Remember, your land will remain there safe from theft and natural calamity unless there is a huge earthquake. Since natural disaster insurance gets extremely high because of the huge cost required for repairing, including that cost in your insurance will drastically increase the price.
4. Get insurance policies from the same insurance providers
This is where your friends and family members can help you a lot. Many insurance companies offer referral discounts to their customers. For example, if someone you know already has insurance and they take you to that company, you might get up to 10% off on your premium.
On the other hand, you can purchase more than one insurance from a company to get a discount. However, ensure that the combined home insurance you get from the same company is less costly than getting separate insurance from two different issuers.
5. Make your home stronger
The idea of making your home strong is to avoid getting extra damages during disasters. Insurance companies will cover the cost, but you’ll have to pay a lot of money to cover the insurance cost.
A one-time cost to strengthen your roof and add storm shutters will save you from paying extra monthly insurance costs on flood cover insurance or other calamities.
6. Add extra security
Insurance companies cover the loss that occurs in theft, but they increase the insurance amount. Instead, you can set better security measures to keep your house and the neighbourhood safe. This will be a one-time payment to install the cameras, saving you the extra dollars you’ll pay in the insurance premium.
7. Keep a good credit record
Your credit record can also help you with less costly insurance, as many insurers check your credit score before offering you a policy. If your credit score exceeds 600, you can visit any insurance company and get a plan with fewer charges and rates.
The fastest way to improve your credit score is to pay bills on time and keep your credit balance low. Check your credit score regularly and remove all the errors to maintain a good score so you can at least enjoy a first year’s premium.
8. Check every discount
Read the policy terms and see what discounts you can get on that plan. The working class might get a different discount than a retired person, and retirees have more time to maintain their houses.
Companies allow up to 10% discount to people over 50 because the chances of theft are minimal, and they won’t ask for an insurance claim for smaller issues. Also, check for online comparison sites before finalising.
9. Talk to your insurance agent every year
Before you start looking for low-cost insurance, it is better to check how you can lower the cost of your current plan, if you have any.
You can talk to your insurance agent and an expert to get ideas. Sometimes, your current insurance plan covers some factors that are not necessary in the first place. You can remove those clauses from the plan to reduce the cost.
However, don’t blindly trust your insurance agent and read everything about how much is home contents insurance before deciding.
