Cheap Home Insurance Secrets

Cheap Home Insurance Secrets
By Steven Gillman

Are you looking for cheap home insurance? Of course there are cheaper insurance companies, so you should get at least several quotes before you purchase a policy. But you knew that. What about things you can do to make your homeowners insurance cheaper wherever you buy it? Here are four.

Four Ways To Get Cheap Home Insurance

1. Lower Contents Coverage

Many companies have coverage minimums, but some will let you lower your coverage on contents. Perhaps you don't have $40,000 worth of things in your home, so why pay for that much coverage? When you make a claim, the insurance company won't pay for value that wasn't there in any case. Oh, they'll collect the higher premiums for the excess coverage - but only if you let them do so.

2. Raise Deductibles

Home insurance is primarily for disasters, not for small stuff, so why have a deductible of $100 or $200? Increase it to $900 and you'll save money every year on the policy. Think you won't have that $900 if a fire happens someday? Time to focus more on your money management.

Here's another way to handle the high deductible. Let's suppose the premium $90 less per year. Every year, put that $90 into a separate savings account. You'll have the whole deductible covered in eight or nine years (with the interest). Keep doing this, and if you have no major claims, someday you'll have thousands of dollars extra for retirement or whatever you want to use it for.

3. Get A Discount For Multiple Policies

You'll often get a lower rate if your car is insured with same company as your home. This is also true if you have more than one property insured with the same company. Consider the limits and cost of the auto policy carefully, though, in order to fairly compare this with the alternatives.

4. Get Special Discounts

Non-smokers can usually get a discount (many house fires are started by cigarettes). Security alarms might get you a discount also. Be sure to ask about any other discounts you can get.

Independent agents may be best for finding cheap home insurance policies. They're not limited to one insurance company. This means they can sell policies from whichever companies are the cheapest, and those that best suit your needs. You can get quotes online as well.

Ask a lot of questions wherever you get a quote. There may be other ways to get cheaper home owners insurance. Be sure the policy is clear about what's covered and what isn't covered. Write down exact policy limits and deductibles, and take other notes. Use this information to accurately compare a quote to others you get.

Check out the companies as well. You can type insurance company ratings into Google or any search engine and find free information on the financial strength of the various companies. You may want cheap home insurance, but you also want a solid company that will be able to pay any claims.

Copyright Steve Gillman. See the home he and his wife bought for $17,500, and get a Free Real Estate Investing Course, at: http://www.HousesUnderFiftyThousand.com

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