The Value Of Insurance For Homeowners

By William Hazelhurst

Arranging an insurance policy for your most valued possession is very important. A lot of people take out medical insurance because they know that health problems have to be attended to without delay because their health is vital to them and, in exactly the same fashion, most people also place great importance on their home which they see as being another especially precious asset.

Home insurance, also referred to as hazard insurance, is a kind of property insurance which protects private dwelling houses. This type of insurance policy protects you in the event of the loss of your home as well as the loss of such things as appliances, furniture and any other personal possessions.

Exactly what a home insurance policy will cover is dependent upon your insurance contract but one important thing to remember is that most plans only provide cover for your house if it is your usual residence. If your property is unoccupied you might need a special type of home insurance often called a dwelling policy.

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 the value of the property which means that it is very important for homeowners to make sure that they have a current valuation for their house which accurately reflects the current market value. For example, in numerous regions house prices have dropped markedly in the last few years and if this applies to your own home then you need to ensure that your insurance company is aware of this and adjusts your insurance homeowners policy premium 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.

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Ensure that your insurance homeowners coverage is up-to-date and, if you are not sure about it, ask for a free home insurance quote without delay.

8 Easy Tips For Buying Cheaper Homeowners Insurance

By William Hazelhurst

No one enjoys paying for homeowners insurance but unfortunately it is a necessary evil for most of us. That does not mean that you need to pay through the nose for it and here are 8 very easy 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 most likely be able to reduce your premium payments by a significant amount. This might seem to be obvious, but research has shown that an astonishingly large number of people either simply renew their current policy or request just one or two quotes. Many online insurance sites automatically compare dozens of plans for you therefore making this one of the easiest ways to reduce your insurance bill.

2. Purchase your insurance online. If you get your plan online you will often get a discount of up to 20% on normal prices because there are less administration costs involved and the savings can be passed on to you.

3. Combine both your contents and buildings plans. A lot of insurers will allow you a discount if you arrange both types of home insurance with them and this generally works out cheaper than getting 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 can raise your insurance costs because your insurance company may consider you to be a greater risk and raise your premiums. You may also lose any no claims discount that your plan has. Of course, you are entitled to submit a claim for anything that your policy covers but ask yourself whether making a small claim is really worth the work involved and any possible future increase in costs.

6. Consider arranging for a high voluntary excess on your plan. Policies feature something which is known as an 'excess' and this means that the policy will not pay out on claims under a specified value. On some policies when you choose to increase your excess your premium payments 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.

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Reduce the premiums on your homeowner insurance by getting a free and no-obligation home insurance quote now.