How to Save on Homeowners Insurance

Consumer Reports has a piece on how to save on homeowners insurance. In the bottom right-hand corner of the article, they list five ways to cut your premiums. Their suggestions:

1. Shop and shop again. Prices vary from one company to another.

2. Ask about discounts.

3. Reap rewards for loyalty. Some insurers cut premiums by 5 percent if you've been with them for three to five years.

4. Raise your deductible. Increasing your deductible from $500 to $1,000 should cut your premium by 25 percent.

5. Bundle your plans. If you use the same insurer for your homeowners and auto insurance coverage, you should be able to qualify for a discount of 5 to 15 percent on each of your policies.

This is pretty basic information -- but good never-the-less. These five represent the easy, money saving tips that everyone should be applying to their homeowners insurance.

We've done all of these for years, and they do save a ton of money. In particular, be sure to shop around for all your insurance needs every year or so. It can make a really, really, really big difference in your premiums. We've seen swings of several hundreds of dollars from one company's prices to another's (and these were all major companies and the exact same insurance protection). It really is amazing to me when people stick with a company/agent for no other reason than "that's who my dad used" or some other weak and costly excuse.

If you want to save even more on your insurance needs, check out these posts:

• Ten Ways to Save Money on Car Insurance

• Getting Homeowner's Insurance (And Saving Money Too)

• 16 Ways to Slash Your Health Insurance Rates

• The Ins and Outs of Renter’s Insurance

Comments

[Brian]

I'd like to add that bundling doesn't always equal cheaper. We're pretty diligent when shopping around for home/auto insurance and we've found that having them with seperate insurers is actually cheaper for our current situation at this point in time.

[Brian]

I'd like to add that bundling doesn't always equal cheaper. We're pretty diligent when shopping around for home/auto insurance and we've found that having them with seperate insurers is actually cheaper for our current situation at this point in time.

[angulo]

Nothing helps us down here in Florida....Homeowner's premiums
have literally doubled for most people from one year to the other...even if u are lucky enough to find coverage from the
few private carriers that are still writing policies..If u r cancelled you have to go with the state company and expect a hefty increase....
People are going without homeowner's;real estate closings
are down because nobody can afford a $300-500 monthly insurance payment in addition to the hefty mortgages based on
the insane home prices..The Florida economy is in danger...
Don't move to Florida