Post : 10 Top Tips for Cutting the Cost of Home Insurance
Title : 10 Top Tips for Cutting the Cost of Home Insurance
10 Top Tips for Cutting the Cost of Home Insurance
If you're a homeowner or a tenant, having adequate home insurance in place is a must. But is there a way to get the right property protection without paying through the nose for it? We give you our 10 top tips for slashing the cost of your home cover.
If you're a homeowner then it's more than likely that you are paying for buildings and contents insurance to give you peace of mind that costs would be covered should the worst happen. Tenants too are likely to have contents insurance in place to cover loss or damage to any of their belongings.
Although not legally essential, many would agree thathome insurance is vital cover to have in place. As well as protecting your personal valuables in the case of a burglary, it will provide reassurance that should the unexpected happen such as a flood or fire, you won't be completely out of pocket. But is there any way to cut down on how much it costs to keep up this cover? We share our top 10 home insurance premium-busting tips.
1. Don't accept your renewal quote
This equally applies to first-time insurance buyers: never simply accept the first quote you are given, either by a new insurer or the renewal quote from your current home insurance provider. You are very likely to find a cheaper price if you dig a little further into the hugely competitive insurance market.
There are so many different home insurance providers on the market that it really is worth shopping around to see how the competition compares. Doing this online is the best way to go about it as you can look at the credentials of hundreds of different insurance packages from your desktop, and obtaining quotes is free.
2. Pay for your policy in one lump sum
If it is possible and affordable to do so, paying for your home insurance policy in a single payment could help to cut the overall cost of premiums. This is because some insurers levy an extra charge when you pay by monthly direct debit; you could end up paying up to 30% extra for your policy in interest payments for the privilege.
It's always worth looking into the particulars of your policy to see if any extra charges like this will apply - if they do, paying an initial lump sum is one way to avoid them. It also means your policy is paid for at the outset and so you can effectively forget about it until it is up for renewal.
3. Take advantage of discounts
There are plenty of discounts on home insurance for those who know what to look for. The easiest one to take advantage of is buying online, which can shave pounds off the cost of premiums. Arranging your policy online means less paperwork for your insurer, so you are likely to be offered a significant discount.
Other discounts which you may be able to take advantage of include existing customer discounts (one of the cases in the financial world where loyalty pays), and no claims discounts (a reduced premium for making no claims during the insured period). When you are comparing insurance deals available make sure to take any applicable discounts into account.
4. Forego the add-ons
Remember that when you are sold insurance you are being sold a product, and so it's likely your insurer will try to sell add-ons to up the price. These can range from freezer contents insurance to outbuildings insurance to special events cover. Naturally in some cases these extras will be necessary to provide the cover you need, but think carefully before being persuaded to buy something you don't.
This doesn't mean you must buy the most basic, bare-minimum insurance, because being under-insured can cause equal problems. Just make sure you buy the right cover for you and are not paying to protect something unnecessarily.
5. Lessen the risk to your home
As with any type of insurance, the higher the perceived risk to whatever is being insured, the higher the premiums will be. This is because if you present a higher risk you are more likely to make a claim and the insurer is more likely to have to pay out, they offset that potential cost by charging you higher premiums.
Therefore an effective way to instantly cut the cost of your home insurance is to improve your home's security, making you a lower-risk customer. You can make your home more secure by fitting insurer-approved locks to your doors and windows, and keeping them locked when you are not at home. Insurer-approved alarms too will reduce the risk of a break-in, in turn reducing the cost of cover.
6. Increase your excess
Taking your insurer up on the offer to voluntarily increase your excess may at face value seem counter-productive, because you will then have to pay out more in the event of a claim. But doing so can vastly decrease the cost of your premiums, which will save you money over the insured period.
The catch is if you do need to make a claim, and find yourself having to pay out a large percentage for repairs and so on, you'll be out of pocket - which may make you wonder if it's worth buying insurance at all. When deciding on your excess you'll have to try and find a balance between what you want to pay for the cover, and what you're prepared to pay in the event of a claim.
7. Back up your policy with savings
Another way to save money on your policy is to keep the excess high, which will give you lower premiums - but then put the extra money you would have been paying in premiums into a high interest savings account. This way you will have adequate cover in place should the worst happen, but extra money earning interest in savings to put towards the cost of a claim should such an occasion arise.
8. Get the insider knowledge
Online quotes are easy to obtain - by entering the details of your property and the cover you need you'll be offered a free estimate of how much your policy will cost in seconds. By getting quotes from a number of different insurers you'll get a good idea of how much your policy should cost.
For this reason it's well worth gathering a few quotes to get an idea of what sort of price you can expect to pay. You can then compare both the price and the features and benefits of the cover offered by each provider, and decide on a policy that provides the right cover for the right price - allowing you to get value-for-money protection for your home.
9. Split your policy to save money
If you're a home owner and are buying insurance that covers both your property itself and the things inside it, it may benefit you to buy the buildings and contents cover separately. Generally insurance providers will offer these together, perhaps with a combined insurance discount. However even with a discount this will not always be the cheapest way to buy home insurance.
Many mistakenly believe that they must buy contents and buildings insurance from the same provider, but you are perfectly entitled to buy separate insurance from separate companies. This is where shopping around and researching all the different deals available will really come in handy - if you find that a combined discount with one provider is in fact the better value option, then you may want to opt for that - but you don't lose anything in investigating the options available.
10. Tell the insurer about yourself
Of course you'll be asked certain questions about your lifestyle and details of your home when your insurer is pulling together an estimate for your cover, but there are additional things they may not ask outright that could mean a reduction in your premiums.
For example, if you are part of a Neighbourhood Watch Scheme, let your insurer know, as the extra security this gives your home will make it a lower-risk property. Likewise if you have a safe in your house to keep valuable items locked up, for example, you won't have to pay as much for cover. Make sure to divulge this sort of information to your insurer, because different providers have different rules for offering discounts - and you've nothing to lose in being candid.
source ; http://www.money.co.uk/
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