Ensure You're Not Paying Too Much For Homeowners Insurance

Paying insurance premiums is something everybody has to do, however, there are ways to make it as painless and inexpensive as possible. With the amount of dangerous and destructive weather formations wreaking havoc across the country, you need to ensure your home has the adequate coverage so if a disaster does strike, you can rebuild your home and your life. This is especially true since construction and material costs shift dramatically from year to year depending on demand.

Here are three tips for ensuring you're not paying too much for homeowners insurance:

1. Increase your deductible

For many homeowners looking to save money, one of the easiest ways is to reduce your insurance deductible. However, the truth is homeowners can actually save more money in the long run by raising the policy's deductible. According to DailyFinance, increasing your policy's deductible means you can reduce your home insurance premiums by almost 41 percent. This will be dependent upon the state you live in, but many insurers charge less in premiums when homeowners have higher deductibles. North Carolina residents save the most money by raising their deductible, while Rhode Island, Connecticut, Pennsylvania and California all provide similarly high savings. However, residents in Idaho and Texas only save around 6 percent, which isn't really enough to counter the increase in your deductible.

2. Ensure you're not over-insured

The last thing any homeowner wants to find out is that they've been paying too much because they over-insured their home. Then again, you also want to make sure your home is not under-insured, which can be an even bigger nightmare. To check on the correct insurance level for your home, contact your agent and ask about the average square-foot construction cost for your area. Compare that with the square footage of your home. This can be located using property tax records.

3. Check for an inflation-adjustment rider

If your policy contains an inflation-adjustment rider, your rates will increase in accordance with inflation. Double check your policy to see if it contains such a rider. If it does, try speaking with your agent to see if you can get it removed or reduced so you can have more control over the increase in your premiums. Not all providers will necessarily remove this option, a little negotiation can still go a long way in securing you a more favorable rate.

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