Surprising things that lower your homeowners insurance

All homeowners want to know how to lower their homeowners insurance premium rates and save money. No one wants to pay more than they have to. In order to lower your premiums, you need to understand how premiums are calculated.

What causes high homeowners insurance premiums? 

The biggest risk here is something that you can control: home repairs. If your home needs repairs, it can cost you. The age of your roof, trees hanging over your house and uneven sidewalks, among other things, can all add up. To help lower your home insurance premiums, make repairs and keep your house in good condition.  

Insurance companies don’t typically release their exact formulas for determining premiums, though the following items are all considered to an extent: 

• Policy’s deductible 
• Policy’s amount of coverage 
• House’s replacement cost 
• House’s age and condition 
• House’s location
• House’s safety and security features 
• Policyholder’s insurance claims history 
• Policyholder’s marital status 
• Policyholder’s credit history 
• Policyholder’s additional coverages

Favorable risk factors translate to better rates. 

What factors affect homeowners insurance cost? 

The items in the list above have a definite impact on your home insurance premiums. Additionally, your carrier is also evaluating these potential causes for concern:  

• The home’s proximity to brush in wildfire areas or bodies of water 
• Pools on the property 
• Trampolines on the property 
• Certain breeds of pets living in the home 

Our guide to homeowners insurance is a great place for you to learn more about the basics of homeowners insurance. Now let’s get to the good part: how to lower home insurance rates.  

The good news is that there are several things that you can do to help lower your homeowners insurance premiums. Here is a list to get started: 

• Shop around – as with any major purchase, it pays to look for the best deal. VIU by HUB makes this easy by quickly comparing rates from several insurance companies. 
• Raise your deductible – the more risk you’re willing to take on yourself, the less your insurance carrier will charge you. 
• Make your home more disaster resistant – the more safety features you have, the less risky your house looks to the insurance company. You can also consider supplementary coverage like flood policies. 
• Improving home security – your home alarm system serves to scare off thieves, which is attractive to insurance carriers. It makes it less likely that they will need to pay for losses caused by vandalism or robbery. The same goes for fire alarms, extinguishers and other safety features. 
• Seek discounts – many professional organizations or club memberships come with insurance discounts. Ask around to see if you qualify for anything based on your memberships and affiliations. 
• Review the limits in your insurance policy and the value of your possessions at least once a year, talk to your insurance agent every year – this is easy if you’re a VIU by HUB customer. VIU by HUB will proactively monitor your insurance policies for improvements that can be made. If you make any changes, reach out to your insurance advisor to determine how they may affect your premium. 
• Insure for replacement cost, not market value – replacement cost refers to the amount it would take to rebuild your home from the ground up, whereas market value is the amount that buyers are willing to pay for your house. Your home should be insured at its replacement cost. Insuring for the replacement cost will cover enough to replace your home and save you some money on your policy. 
• Maintain a good credit record – your carrier wants to see that you’ll make payments to them every month. For better or worse, the way carriers do so is by checking your credit score. 
• Avoid filing unnecessary claims – keep your homeowners insurance claim record clean by filing claims only when they are valid and necessary.  
• Keep home in good condition – we talked about this earlier. The better your home’s condition, the less risk your carrier will see and the more savings you’ll see. 
• Eliminate risks such as trampolines or unfenced pools – it’s all about risk. Can someone get hurt and potentially require an expensive claim? Your insurance company will ask you to absorb some of that risk in the form of higher payments.  
• Buy your home and auto insurance policies from the same insurer – most carriers offer a discount if you have more than one insurance policy with them.  

Now that you know how to lower homeowners insurance premiums, it’s time to put those lessons into practice. Once you’ve taken these actions or identified your discounts, contact your VIU by HUB Advisory Team to explore how to get the best value tailored for you.