Saturday, April 25, 2009

8 Very Easy Tips For Purchasing Cheaper Home 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 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 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 your premiums upfront. In spite of the fact that most insurance companies let you pay your premiums in monthly installments many of them will charge interest for this privilege. So, if you can afford to pay the cost of a full year's premium in advance, this will prove cheaper in the longer term.

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. Think about reducing your level of cover. Many policies include benefits that you might not need like cover for personal items while traveling or 'free' legal advice. Examine your plan and see what parts of it you really need.

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