The insurance business can be rather confusing for the uninitiated consumer. Getting the best home insurance coverage can often feel like a bit of a hit-and-miss endeavor. Here are some tips for making good, informed decisions when buying home insurance.
Know What You Want to Cover
You don’t always need to cover everything in your house to get good insurance. Often, you can save money and get better coverage if you specify what you want to protect. In the past, insurance companies came under fire for selling needless natural disaster insurance and very specific content insurance to homeowners. Those days are thankfully fading away, but you’ll still have to have a good think about what you actually need to insure. If you do live in an area that suffers from natural disasters, you might find that insuring your home against them is a mightily good idea.
Check the Excess
This is something that often catches people out when they are shopping around for home insurance. Some deals can seem too good to be true – and they are. Insurance companies will often offer great insurance prices but include extortionate excess charges. Excess charges are the amounts of money a homeowner is expected to pay themselves before the insurance kicks in and takes care of the rest of the payment through a claims system. Always choose an insurer that is transparent about their excess policies. Companies like KBD in Canada are upfront about all of their charges and excesses. Never sign anything with a company that obscures their charges.
Make Your Home Secure
Some insurers charge people with insecure homes more for their coverage. This is because a home that is easy to break into is likely to be the subject of an insurance claim. Using the same logic, it is easy to see why homeowners with security systems receive discounts from insurers. Take as many precautions as you can to make your home hard to break into. Store electronics safely, install good locks, and always close your windows. Insurers won’t physically come and check your house, but they will ask you to fill out a form detailing your security measures. If you are found to have been lying, then your insurance will be void.
Install Safety Features
Fire is a major cause of home insurance claims. For this reason, owners of houses susceptible to fire are usually charged far more for their insurance and get worse deals in general. Installing some up-to-date alarms and fire doors can help make your house safer from fire and also get you a much better deal on your home insurance. Likewise, you’ll want to install gas alarms if you want the best deals around.
Pay Annually
Insurers will usually offer you the choice between paying monthly and paying annually. If you have the money to spare, always pay annually. Annual fees are far cheaper than monthly ones in almost all circumstances. You’ll get more coverage for your money if you pay in larger amounts.
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