How to Find Affordable Homeowners Insurance

Did you know that most people can reduce the price of their house payment simply by finding affordable homeowners insurance.  This is because the cost of most homeowners policies are a part of your escrow account and are added into the cost of your mortgage payment.  By taking a few simple steps you can find affordable homeowners insurance and reduce your monthly expenses.

1. Research pricing - The Internet has made research easy for everyone.  By simply typing in what you are looking for into your preferred search engine you will find a lot of companies that are willing to give you a quote online.  Compare the big name companies to some of the smaller independent companies.  Some of the smaller companies may have more flexibility and may be willing to give you a better price to earn your business.


2. Determine what levels of coverage you need - This will give you a basis for your comparison.  Ensure that you are not including the value of your lot or land.  Nothing is going to happen to the land that you will need to repair or replace.  Homeowners insurance is designed to protect the home and its contents.


3. Compare policies side by side - You may be surprised at the difference in cost from one company to another.  This will allow you to make a fair assessment in your comparisons. You may be able to get more coverage for the same price from another company.


4. Consider raising your deductible - If you are willing to assume a higher percentage of the risk (your deductible) the cheaper your premium will be.


5. Find your available discounts - Many companies are willing to offer discounts for bundling or combining your insurance products.  If you are willing to have more than one policy with the company the better your price will be on both policies.  Other discounts are offered for home security systems and other safety features such as hurricane and storm protections.


6. Eliminate unnecessary riders - Ensure that while you have ample coverage for new things that you may have added throughout the year and that you are not covering items or features that you no longer own. The perfect example of this can be a group of friends that chose to backfill an in-ground swimming pool in their yard, but did not realize that they were paying for a rider on their homeowners insurance just in case of a pool accident.  A simple review saved them over $300 by eliminating this rider alone.


7. Review your current policy annually - Too often we take out a policy and forget about it and end up paying excess charges over the years because we do not review it and replace it if it is needed.  Finding more affordable pricing will give bargaining power to lower your insurance with your current carrier if that is where you choose to stay.