The homeowner insurance policy is very comprehensive. It protects all of your personal property along with the dwelling. Most policies are written on a replacement cost basis. That means that in the event of a total loss that your home and all of its contents will be replaced with like kind and quality of materials. Shopping for a homeowner’s policy is so much easier. Make sure that you have your current declarations page. You can either go online or contact a local agent. It is better to combine an auto and home quote to get the multi-policy discounts available.

There are a lot of additional riders that you can purchase on a homeowner’s policy. If you have items like jewelry, fine arts, and collectibles then you can schedule them with an all risk type of coverage. There are a lot of new endorsed benefits like identity theft and home day care coverage. The homeowner insurance policy is one of the most important insurance purchases you will ever make. Don’t sell yourself short. Explore all the possibilities when covering your assets. Use higher deductibles to lower the overall premium so that you can cover some of your most valued assets with scheduled riders.

Section I

A – The Dwelling – The dwelling and attached structures

B – Other Structures – structures un-attached

C – Personal Property – contents of the dwelling

D – Loss of Use – additional living expense

The list of perils that a homeowner policy insures against are fire and lightning, windstorm or hail, explosion, riot and civil commotion, aircraft, vehicles, smoke, vandalism and malicious mischief, theft, falling objects, accidental discharge of water and steam, sudden and accidental tearing apart, freezing, and volcanic eruption.

Section II

E – Liability Coverage – Personal Liability provides coverage in the event a claim or lawsuit is brought against the insured because of bodily injury or property damage caused by an occurrence.

F – Medical Payments – medical payments provide coverage to others in the event an individual is injured on the premises and requires medical treatment.

These are the basic coverage benefits on a homeowner policy. The next step in the process is to know how much insurance you should purchase. The actual face amount is usually determined by an insurance replacement cost calculator. The calculator needs several kinds of data in order to give you a quote. It will often require the square footage of your home along with info about items that increase the value of your home like air conditioning and fireplaces. There will probably be a question about the percentage of your basement that is finished.

Homeowner insurance policies have two ways to settle a claim. It will either be settled on an actual cash value basis or a replacement cost basis. The actual cash value settlement will assess the replacement cost and subtract any depreciation because of age or use. The actual cash value policies are usually purchased on older homes. Replacement cost settlements replace the loss with like kind and quality of material without depreciation.

The insurance company to most people is the agent. The agent is their connection and representative. Most people will either love or hate their insurance company based on their experience with their agent. Companies still love to do business with agents. It’s hard to do business without an agent sometimes. They usually have a staff that assists them in servicing their policyholders. They are involved in the same community with their customers and so there is a bond between them. If you want to do business with an agent then compare home insurance companies that use agents. Ask around. Get a recommendation.

There are more and more folks that want to bypass the agent and do their business on line or with customer service representatives at call centers. If this is your preferable method then you need to compare insurance companies that operate strictly online or by telephone. There are rating guides available that will help you determine the financial strength of each company. The AM Best insurance resource guide is probably the best.

Anytime you do things that will protect your home more, your home insurance rate will likely decrease. You don’t have to do anything drastic to get the decrease, but you do need to prove to your insurance company that your improvements are helping to protect your home better. One thing many people choose to do is install a home alarm system. Most home insurance companies will lower your rates if you have a working home alarm system. You can get one installed professionally, or visit your local home safety store for a do-it-yourself kit.

Another thing you can do is update your home’s structural components. For instance, if you live in a hurricane zone, you may want to consider adding a hurricane roof to your home. These safety roofs are designed to hold up much better during natural disasters. Your home insurance rates may decrease after adding something like this to your home.

If you are thinking of improving your home in order to get lower home insurance rates, you might want to contact your insurance company before you make any changes. Find out what improvements will allow your rate to decrease and focus on those changes. Your insurance company will be happy to work with you on planning the most appropriate changes. After all, they want to see your home stay in shape as much as you want to.

Shopping Around

Look up the various insurance companies you are interested in and ask them for a quote. They can usually give you a rough estimate fairly quickly and even more exact quotes should also be possible if you provide more details and wait. You should also look up insurers online and get instant quotes from their website. This is a very fast and effective way of shopping around. You will get a good idea of what prices to expect. You can also experiment with the quotation websites to see what effect it makes to your premium price if you select different options. With all insurance policies you will have a number of options that affect the price of the policy. Therefore you should think about these options and if there are risks that you do not wish to cover then let the insurer know as your premium should become cheaper.

Doubling Up

You should also try to make sure you do not double insure. It is a principle of insurance that you cannot benefit from the insured event’s occurrence. So you cannot get paid twice even if you have two insurance policies. So if a risk is already covered by one policy, again let your insurer know so they can remove it from their calculation.

Location, Location, Location

Home insurance rates depend on factors such as address. If your home is located in an are of high crime, or an area that flood often, or is prone to earthquakes, hurricanes or other significant risks, this will be reflected in the policy price. The security you have installed will also affect the premium you must pay. If you have a sophisticated security system this will obviously make your home safer and this will reduce the risk. Similarly, fire alarm systems and sprinklers can decrease your premium. In some areas, flood prevention measures may be taken into account. The size and value of your home will be another important factor, as clearly a more expensive home will cost more if it is damaged.

Many home insurance policies will require you not to leave the home unoccupied, and if you are renting out the home, this will also affect the premium.

1) Shop around and buy online: Figures show that many people simply renew their current policies without shopping around. The internet makes it easy to compare prices from different insurers, so why not take advantage of this? Plus, you’ll usually get a discount of 10% or more just for buying your policy online.

2) Policy type: do you really need a comprehensive policy with all the extras? Going for a third party fire & theft policy can reduce your premiums hugely, and is definitely worth considering if your car isn’t an expensive model.

3) No claims discounts: Nearly all policies feature a discount that increases for every year you don’t make a claim. The higher the discount available, the more you could save. Also look at insurers offering a ‘no claims bonus for life’ feature, where your current discount level can be fixed forever, even if you have to make a claim somewhere down the line.

4) Excess: The excess on a policy is the amount of a claim you have to pay before the insurer pays the rest. Choosing to have a higher than standard excess level will usually mean lower premiums.

5) Security: Fitting your vehicle with an alarm, immobiliser, or other security devices can lead to premium reductions. Parking you car off-road, for example on a driveway or in a garage, will also mean a cheaper policy.

6) Pay annually: Many insurers charge you interest for the privilege of paying in monthly installments. Pay annually if you can afford it to avoid this, or look for one of the companies who don’t charge extra for monthly payment.

7) Mileage: The more mileage you run up every year, the more your insurance will cost. Even if you can’t reduce your mileage, make sure you’re not overestimating how much you actually do drive, and give your insurer an accurate figure.

Drivers: The more drivers you have on your policy, the more it will cost. Reduce the number of people insured to drive your car to the minimum possible, and try to get the policy in the name of a driver with the lowest risk profile. For example, if a car is driven by both a man and a woman, insuring it in the woman’s name will often result in a cheaper quote.