Home Insurance

Home insurance is a necessity. It is tempting to think that you never going to use it and that you can save money by not having insurance. Not having home insurance can however prove to be disastrous if an accident does happen. You should never be without home insurance. If you choose good insurance you can get a lot of value for your money. Some home insurance includes things such as travel insurance, legal liability insurance, and other perks. All these perks can save you a lot of money by eliminating the need for additional insurance and you should therefore always consider their value when you are looking for cheap insurance.

The fact that you need to have home insurance does not mean that you cant reduce how much you spend on your insurance every year. Most people can lower their insurance quotes and save money while maintaining or improving their coverage.

The most important things to think about when you are looking for cheap home insurance are the following things.

How large coverage do you need?

One of the most common mistakes that people do is to be overinsured. They choose insurances that have a larger coverage than what they actually need. This problem is made worse by insurance salesman who tries to get the customer to choose more expensive insurance than what they might actually need. The more expensive insurance you choose, the more they earn.

You do not need insurance that has coverage that is larger than the value of your belongings. You can never get more than the value of your items regardless of how large coverage you have. If you have a value of 5000 dollars to insure in your home, then there is no point to sign up for insurance that covers damages for 10.000 since you’re only going to get paid for the actual value of the damaged or stolen belongings.

You should therefore always calculate or estimate the value of your belongings before you choose an insurer. It can be good to add a small amount on top of that value to account for new things you might buy during the year. It is important that you use the present value of your belongings when you calculate or estimate the coverage you need. It does not matter how much you paid for everything. It is the present value that counts. Your big nice plasma that is a year old will not be worth the full purchase price. Nor will other electronics.

When you know the value of your belongings you are ready to find insurance that is suitable for you. You know how big coverage you need. Try to find insurance that offers coverage as close to your needs as possible. You are unlikely to find insurance that offers exactly the coverage you need. You should therefore try to find an insurance that offers you slightly more coverage than you need.

You usually do not want to be underinsured but in some situations, it can be better to be slightly underinsured rather than severely overinsured.

What do you need coverage for?

Make a detailed list of exactly what types of coverage you need. You should look for insurance that covers all your needs but there is no benefit in paying for coverage you do not need. Coverage for damages you can not suffer.

What is the deductible?

Always make sure that you check what the deductible is before you choose insurance. You should be aware that different types of coverage often is associated with different deductibles. The deductible for fire damage might not be the same for flood damage. You need to research the deductibles for all the insurances that you are comparing. The deductibles for the types of accidents that you are most likely to suffer from is almost the most important ones.

Take the time to consider what is the best deductible for you. If you have a good economy it can be better to get insurance with a higher deductible. Insurance with a higher deductible might allow you to pay a significantly lower price for your insurance since the company will not have to pay out a lot of small claims. If a large accident happens you will still be protected from most of the damage.

To get insurance with a higher deductible is to transfer some of the risks from the insurance company back to yourself. This can however be a financially sound decision if you can afford it because the risk that you will have to use your insurance is after all very small.

See how much money you would save with a higher deductible and then calculate how long you would need to go without an accident for you to save the cost of the deductible.

Do they offer shareholder discounts

Some insurance companies offer discounts to shareholders who own shares in the company. These discounts can sometimes be considerable.  It is therefore worth investigating whether or not an insurance company offer a shareholder discount. If they do it might be worth buying some shares of the company stock before you sign up for insurance to make sure that you can benefit from the discount.

Is there any extra coverage included?

Does one of the home insurance policies that you look at contain any extra perks? An example of this is as earlier mentioned that some insurances offer travel coverage and other extra coverage. Make a list of the different perks that different insurances offer. Strike all the perks that you do not need, cant use. They offer no value to you regardless of their objective value.

When you have done this you should calculate the value of the perks you use. How much money they can save for you. You should then consider these savings when you decide which insurance is the cheapest for you

Can you pay your insurance yearly?

You can usually save money by paying your insurance yearly rather than monthly or quarterly. The savings are not huge but still more than large enough to make it worth considering if you can pay the premium yearly. It is not unusual that you can lower your bill by 10% or more by doing this. I recommend that you always pay yearly if you are able to. This is true for most bills that can be paid yearly.

Another benefit you get from paying your insurance yearly is that you eliminate the risk that you forget to pay a bill and end up without insurance when disaster strikes. There is only one bill per year to pay, not twelve.

Can you collect all your insurance from one company?

You can usually lower your total cost by moving all your insurances to one company. They will give you a discount for becoming a loyal customer. It is important to know that there is no guarantee that it is cheaper to collect your insurance with one company. Sometimes it can be cheaper to use different companies for different insurances, but it’s common that you get discounts when you collect all your insurances within the same company. Investigate your alternatives to find the cheapest total solution.

Insurance and loans are very similar when it comes to cheaper costs. If you have several small loans and credits with different banks and creditors, you often pay a lot more interest rates and costs than if you have one big loan instead. It is very beneficial to gather all small loans into one big loan, just like insurance.

Different types of insurance

There are several types of home insurance policies to consider, depending on your specific needs. Here’s a list:

1. HO-1: Basic Form Homeowner Policy: Covers damage caused by specific perils like fire, lightning, windstorms, hail, explosions, smoke, vandalism, theft, and certain types of liability.
2. HO-2: Broad Form Homeowner Policy: A more extensive version of HO-1, it covers additional perils such as damage from falling objects, the weight of ice, snow or sleet, freezing of household systems, and accidental water damage.
3. HO-3: Special Form Homeowner Policy: This is the most common type of home insurance. It covers all perils except those explicitly excluded, such as earthquakes, floods, or poor maintenance.
4. HO-4: Renter’s Insurance: Designed for renters, it covers personal property against the same perils as the HO-2 policy. It also includes liability coverage for personal injury or property damage inflicted on others.
5. HO-5: Comprehensive Form Homeowner Policy: Similar to HO-3, but with more extensive coverage and fewer limitations. It’s considered a premium policy and offers the broadest protections.
6. HO-6: Condominium Unit Owner Policy: Designed for condominium owners, this policy covers personal property, liability, and any additions or alterations to the interior of the unit.
7. HO-7: Mobile Home Form: Similar to an HO-3 policy but designed specifically for mobile or manufactured homes.
8. HO-8: Older Home Form: For older homes, where the cost to rebuild could surpass the market value, this policy covers a shorter list of risks compared to HO-3.
9. Flood Insurance: Standard homeowner policies typically don’t cover flooding. This policy covers damage due to flooding, which can be essential if you live in a flood-prone area.
10. Earthquake Insurance: Like flood insurance, this covers a specific natural disaster – earthquakes – which are not covered in standard policies.
11. Landlord Insurance: If you own a property that you lease to others, this policy covers the building and sometimes personal property you leave for maintenance or tenant use.
12. Umbrella Liability Insurance: An extra liability insurance to protect you from major claims and lawsuits, it helps protect your assets and your future in a world where, in litigation, judgments can be substantial.
13. Guaranteed Replacement Cost Coverage: This covers the costs to rebuild your home as it was before an event, even if the cost exceeds your policy limit. This ensures full coverage without worrying about depreciation.
14. Actual Cash Value Coverage: Unlike replacement cost coverage, this considers depreciation and only pays the actual cash value of the property at the time of loss.
15. Loss of Use/Additional Living Expenses: If your home becomes uninhabitable, this covers living expenses during the repair or rebuilding process.

When selecting home insurance, it’s important to consult with an insurance agent to understand what’s included and what additional coverages may be necessary based on your location and the specifics of your home.

Shop around

You should always shop around before you renew your insurance. You should do this every year. There is nothing to say that the company that was the cheapest last year is the cheapest this year. Use insurance websites to compare prices and call up the cheapest alternatives. By talking to them you might be able to get a price that is lower than the price advertised. If you find a cheaper alternative than the insurance you already have then you can call the customer service of your current insurance company and talk to them. If you tell them that you are considering switching to another company they might choose to match or undercut the price of the competitor to keep you as a customer.