The Facts About Home Insurance

By William Hazelhurst

Getting an insurance policy for your valued assets is very important. Most people take out medical insurance because they recognize that medical problems must be attended to without delay because their health is important to them and, in precisely the same fashion, a lot of people also place a lot of importance on their home which they view as being another particularly valuable asset.

Home owners insurance, also referred to as hazard insurance, is a kind of property insurance that protects privately owned dwellings. This type of insurance policy protects you in the event of the loss of your home as well as the loss of things like furniture, appliances and your other personal possessions.

Exactly what a homeowners insurance policy will cover depends on your particular insurance contract but an important thing to bear in mind is that a lot of policies only cover your home if it is your normal place of residence. Thus, if the property is vacant then you may need a special form of home insurance frequently called a dwelling plan.

Additionally, how much you will have to pay for house insurance largely depends on your property and the amount of any loss which would result from the destruction of your home. It will also depend to a degree on the extent of cover which you wish your insurer to provide and a variety of other factors, like whether or not the property is adequately secured.

The key factor however will be your property's value which means that it is exceedingly important for homeowners to ensure that they have a current valuation for their property which genuinely reflects the current market. For instance, in many places house prices have dropped markedly in the last few years and if this applies to your own home then you have to make sure that your insurer is aware of this and adjusts your insurance homeowners plan costs accordingly.

Just as ensuring that your loved ones have adequate health insurance, it is also vital to ensure that you can maintain a roof over the heads of your loved ones by ensuring you have sufficient property insurance.

About the Author:

Make sure that your insurance homeowners plan is up-to-date and, if you are uncertain about it, get a free and no-obligation home insurance quote without delay.

8 Easy Tips For Buying Cheaper Homeowners Insurance

By William Hazelhurst

Noone likes having to pay for homeowners insurance but it is a necessary evil for most of us. However, this does not mean you need to pay through the nose for it though and so here are 8 very simple tips to lower the cost of your homeowners insurance.

1. Take your time and shop around. By comparing prices from a number of insurance companies you will probably be able to lower your premiums by a considerable amount. This may seem to be obvious, but research has shown that a surprisingly large proportion of people either simply renew their current plan or request only one or two quotes. Many online insurance sites automatically compare dozens of policies for you thus making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your home insurance bill.

2. Purchase your policy online. If you arrange your plan online you will often find that you can get a discount of up to 20% on regular prices because there are less administration costs involved and the savings made 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. Although the majority of insurance companies let you pay your premiums in monthly installments many of them will charge interest for this. Accordingly, if you can afford to pay a full year's premium in advance, this will prove cheaper in the long run.

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. lower your level of cover. Many plans include benefits that you may not need like cover for personal items when you are traveling or 'free' legal advice. Study your policy and see which sections of it you really need.

About the Author:

Reduce the premiums on your homeowner insurance by asking for a free, no-obligation home insurance quote without delay.