Thursday, March 15, 2012

Follow These Tips To Find The Best Homeowners Insurance Plan Today

By Steve Brian


Every time you turn on the TV, ride down the street, open a magazine or listen to the radio, you're seeing or hearing insurance companies push their products in your face. Find out the truth about how to save money on homeowners' insurance with these tips. Don't fall victim to the colorful campaigns.

Choosing the right amount of home owner coverage, requires lots of consideration. Keep in mind that the policy's goal is not to pay off your mortgage in case of a disaster, but to pay for fixing the damages. Choose an amount that comfortably covers the complete rebuilding of your house, without you having to add too much from your cash reserve.

Your jewelry, electronics, and other valuable items will be very difficult to replace in a homeowner's insurance claim if you don't make the effort to document each of them with photographs. This may seem like a lot of work, but only if your insurance company knows exactly what's been lost, damaged, stolen, or destroyed, will you be able to demonstrate what the fair replacement value of those items would be.

To lower your home insurance rates, add new safety features to your home. Home insurance companies often have discounts available based off of safety features like door and fire alarm systems. If you have recently upgraded your home with these features, be sure to call your insurance company to alert them and check on potential discounts.

To decrease your insurance rates, upgrade your home appliances, heating and electrical systems. When these systems are newer, the cost to replace them, in the case of a claim, is less expensive than with older appliances and systems. Don't forget to call your home owner's insurance company if you recently upgraded. It could mean money in your pocket.

Keep all important documents related to your home owner's insurance in a separate location. Store a copy of your policy, appraisals, inventories and other records, in a safe deposit box, your office or with a friend or family member. This helps to ensure that, should your home be destroyed, you still have full documentation, supporting your claim.

If your home is damaged severely with water, do not dispose of any destroyed property before your insurance adjuster can assess the damage. You can remove destroyed items from the home so that they do not cause further water damage to floors or other items, but leave them on the property. Failure to do so means you may not be compensated for those items.

To help lower your homeowner's insurance premium cost, lower the amount of your outstanding mortgage. The less money you owe on the home, the more the insurance company figures that you will feel pride of ownership. Showing your insurance agent evidence of clean-up, major repairs and improvements can help lower premiums, as well.

Consider moving. The area in which your home is located has a great impact on the cost of your home insurance. If your house is located in a rough neighbourhood which has a high crime rate, your home insurance is likely to be very expensive. By moving to a safer neighbourhood, you could significantly reduce your annual home insurance premiums.

Don not, under any circumstances, allow your hazard insurance on your home to lapse. Most mortgage companies have a clause in the agreement you signed that in the event you don't pay it, they will find a new policy for it, sparing no expense, and charge you for the premium. It will usually be at least double what you were paying before. You are better off doing whatever you need to in order to keep your policy current.

It could be worth using your savings to pay for minor damage repairs. Any type of claim with your home insurance company will increase your annual premiums. The increase could be more than what it would cost you to repair the damage yourself, so in order to protect your no-claims discount, consider not involving your home insurance provider when small amounts of damage occur to your home.

Make sure that every exterior door on your home has dead bolt locks. Depending on your insurance provider, this might lower your home owner's insurance premiums slightly. They also make a great deterrent against would be thieves or other intruders. They are inexpensive to install and a great way to keep your home safe.

While your homeowners policy may protect you in the event of a fire, burglary, or natural disaster, such as an earthquake, it may not cover you for flooding, mold or other common disasters. Make sure you know what you are getting and what additional coverage you may need to purchase separately.

It's not that you cannot trust the insurance companies; it's that you always need to be informed before you make any type of decision, on this scale. We're talking about your home here, not just some automobile. Use these tips, in order to find the best type of coverage for your home.




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