Home Insurance Daily Blog

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The ground rule to remember before buying homeowners’ insurance is that you should ask around first to find out who offers the best deals. Consult your local bank or a lending institution or any credit union/s in your area on the premiums and coverage included in their package then compare with that of the others in the industry. Some insurance companies give a better deal if you patronize the product of their sister company or subsidiary. Example’ you will get a better price for your homeowner insurance if you also purchase auto insurance at the same time. Others will give you a better deal if you also get a home security system from them - free installation at that !

With the rising costs of insurance, most homeowners are trying to find the cheapest policy they can afford. If you want to understand the factors that determine your premiums, here are some of them:
1.Location – if you live in high-risk or high-crime areas, the risk that your home will be damaged or stolen from is significantly higher. This results in higher premiums. Also premiums in highly congested cities are generally higher compared to suburbs. Another factor that can affect your premium is your location’s propensity to be hit by natural disasters. If you’re house is lying on a fault line, or in locations that are prone to storms, this may cause your premium to increase.
2.Construction costs - some insurers will look at the construction costs in your area to see how much it would cost to rebuild your home if it were destroyed. The higher the construction costs are in your area, the higher the likelihood that you’ll pay for it in your home insurance rates.
3.Building materials – the materials you used to construct your home play a large part towards your home’s vulnerability. If you used brick or stone that is more durable and better able to withstand natural disasters such as fire, tornadoes or hurricanes, you’ll get a lower premium.

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Perpetual insurance is a form of homeowners insurance procedure written to have no term, or date, when the policy expires. From the effective start date, the coverage exists for perpetuity. The insured deposits funds, called a deposit premium, with the insurer for insurance for the existence of the risk. The deposit is frequently ten times bigger than the cost of a non-refundable, annual premium for a correspondent policy with a one-year term. The insurer must bring in enough income from investing the deposits to cover losses and operating expenses for the model to be economically feasible. Upon annulment, the insured is entitled to a full reimbursement of the initial deposit premium, usually without interest. Perpetual insurance, first issued in the U.S. in Philadelphia in 1752, is still used for fire and home¬owner’s insurance. In the United States, there are also tax compensations to perpetual insurance. The deposit premium does not defer any income to the insured. However, the expense of the annual premium for term homeowners insurance is eliminated.

If your house is located near proximity to a sizeable body of water, chances are that you might be required by the state to get flood protection insurance. Though floods are not covered by standard home insurance offers, it is offered to areas which are known to have experienced floods. Chances are that same people who offer home insurance also offer the said product and it would be a good idea if you live near a creek, river or estuary as more and more homes are encroaching on nature which has a way of defying even the most modern construction methods and protection systems. Nature is still the most unpredictable force known to man and this has been proven time and time again as natural disaster after natural disaster has left many homeless and even lost their lives as she takes her course.

Homeowners Policy is the most basic form of home insurance and it covers four areas. The House Structure itself, all your belongings within that house, Liability protection and coverage for additional living expenses when something forbids you from living in your home. The first coverage area means that the insurance company would pay for the repair or rebuild of the house in case of fire and any other disaster listed in your policy. The next covers your belongings say they are stolen so the insurance pays for that stolen item based upon it�s face/assessed value. The next two we will discuss further in the next post to give you a better understanding of their provisions.

Installing security devices at home makes us feel safe, but did you know that we can save more in insurance premiums as well? Yes, once the home insurance guys check the place out and see that everything is installed well, you might get some discounts.

According to insurance.com, the rates would be as follows:

If you do all of that, you get a whopping 30 percent home insurance premium discount based solely on security devices. This doesn’t include setting up smoke detectors or sprinkler systems yet.

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Prices these days are rising, and if your pay hasn’t been rising with it, then you need to save on some things. One of the things you can save on is home insurance premiums. If you don’t have one yet but plan to get one in the immediate future, the following tips will help you:

You need to shop around for the cheapest you can find. Eventhough you previously enjoyed your previous home insurance company, you might want to check out the others just to be sure. Things change and improve quickly.

It would be best, if you don’t go overboard in what you’d like to cover. If you’re not sure what it is that absolutely needs to be covered then a call to an insurance broker may be a good time as any.

Lastly, get those discounts! Ask your insurance agent or broker for ways to lower your rates. Sometimes, installing a home-security alarm may greatly reduce your premiums.

Going DIY (Do It Yourself) does have its benefits: no more labor expenses for contractors, more control on how you want it to look, etc. However, it does have its problems: you may fail to get home insurance because what you installed may not conform with standards, if you fail to finish your project, it may be a problem in renewing your home insurance.

Zurich’s technical underwriting manager, said: “Doing it yourself can be a great achievement but we would like to remind all DIY novices that they can often endanger themselves and their property, so if you are unsure, always call in a professional.”

For those who dream of the DIY life, but don’t want the risk involved, then calling in the right people: plumbers, carpenters or contractors, would best suit you , your house, and your home insurance.

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A nightmare situation would be that after a lengthy and enjoyable vacation, you go back to the house and see it unlocked and in disarray. You search for your jewels and valuable gadgets and find them missing. This is an unfortunate situation that happens to a lot of people when they go on vacation.

According to reports by Churchill Insurance, one in ten UK homes have been broken into while the occupants were out on holiday. The loss averaged £3,288 per incident. The thieves are focusing more on portable but expensive items instead of the usual big items like TVs and radios.

With home insurance, you can somewhat feel better. Claire Foster, spokesperson for Churchill Insurance said,

“While insurance cannot prevent burglary, it can provide reassurance that the monetary value of anything stolen is covered.”

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Buying a house can be a better alternative than constructing one from the ground up because it saves you more time. However, you need to take a closer look at the house’s history before you buy it, because if the previous home owner had a lot of “bad history” with the home insurance people, then you’re going to inherit it as well.

It may seem not fair, but it is plausible. Dr. Robert Hartwig, chief economist of the Insurance Information Institute in New York said,

“A home with a history of burst pipes would reflect a plumbing problem that hadn’t been addressed, so the new owner would probably face a higher premium until the problem is corrected. That should be a homeowner’s incentive to make sure his or her home is in good working condition.”

You can request for more info on the house’s loss history by requesting for a Comprehensive Loss Underwriting Exchange or CLUE report. Ask for a homeowner insurer for assistance on this one.

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