How To Get Cheap Home Insurance Quotes

Home insurance is a written agreement between you and the insurance company that stipulates a certain amount of money to be paid out in case of an insurance situation to cover your costs in return for a determined premium paid out regularly to the insurance company. 

In other words home insurance is used for paying for the repair or rebuild of your house in case it gets damaged to a certain degree.

What things are covered with home insurance?

Home insurance policies vary in contents and situations where they applied. Standard home insurance policies are the most common type of home insurance and include coverage against damage resulting from fire, theft, lighting, storms, explosions, technological disasters, social unrest and liability to third parties. 

Standard policies do not include coverage against earthquakes, flood and tornadoes, so you'll have to buy them separately as weavers.

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How much insurance coverage should I purchase?

It's best that your home insurance would be able to cover the cost of rebuilding your house from scratch were it destroyed. So the amount of coverage to start with is the actual value of your house. 

It' s best determined by taking the house's overall square footage multiplied by current local construction cost per square foot. You can ask around the construction companies to get a clear idea of the figures. The resulting amount is the minimum coverage you should take.

Will the stolen jewelry be paid for?

Yes, stolen items are covered but to a certain extent. Standard home insurance policies usually have a numeric limit to the value of items being covered for theft. Usually it's about $2,000 per item. 

So if your valuable items (jewelry, furs, collectibles) are worth more than this figure then you should consider purchasing an additional weaver to cover the exact cost of each item or buy separate insurance policies for them.

What if my dog bites someone in my house?

Standard home insurance policies include third party liability coverage that pays for the damage and injuries inflicted to third parties by you, your family members and pets. 

So if your dog bites a worker in your house you can pay for the injury through your home insurance and even pay out settlements and legal fees in case the person chooses to file a court suit against you. 

That's why it's recommended to have a rather high coverage amount with your home insurance policy that will be able to settle such payments in full.

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Specialist home insurance

If your house doesn't meet the requirements of ordinary home there's a higher chance that you'll need specialist home insurance in order to cover your house properly. Buying standard home insurance policies for some types of buildings is a big mistake than can actually cause a lot of trouble after filing a claim and realizing that it's not suited for covering the type of house you live in. 

So before buying home insurance in the first place see if your house is somewhat different from the definition of standard house most insurance companies deal with. Here are some indications that will help you realize that you actually need specialist home insurance.

1. Non-standard edifice

The materials used for the construction of your home can easily make it a non-standard building and required specialist home insurance. If your house is built out of timber structures, metal frames, wattle or daub you can pretty much be confident that standard home insurance won't apply to your house.

2. Listed structures

This type of buildings is usually protected by specific regulations and even laws that turn insuring such structures into a very demanding undertaking. Usually if a listed structure is damaged and requires repair it is set by the regulations that you restore it to its initial state by using the same materials and methods that were applied during the construction. 

This means that you'll need a highly skilled professional that specializes in such works and it always costs more than typical repair. That's why listed structures always require specialist home insurance to get them covered properly.

3. Thatch homes

Buildings that use thatch as a part of their structure can be quite costly to insure because they are at higher risk of being damaged than houses built from conventional and modern materials. The cost of repairing such houses is always higher just like listed structures so specialist home insurance is a must.

4. Empty houses

Uninhabited homes are usually outside of standard home insurance coverage, which can be a serious problem for the proprietors of such buildings. Quite often the only way to cover such structures is getting specialist home insurance that can be tailored to specific requirements of each building in question.

5. Farms

Farms also require specialist home insurance because of their unique nature. Apart from being home to their proprietors farms are also regarded as businesses, which imposes a certain element of business to be included as well. 

Only specialist home insurance can cover a farm and meet all the insurance needs of a farm owner.

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How to make home insurance cheaper

Having home insurance to cover your house with is certainly a very wise decision for any home owner who worries about his or her most valuable asset. Risking losing the main investment of your life just to save a bit of money with premiums isn't the best decision to make. 

Yet, sometimes home insurance can become quite costly for the average pocket and people may consider dropping the coverage simply because they can't afford it. If you are in a similar situation don't haste canceling your policy, because you can actually cut the premiums in several effective ways. And here's what you should do about it:

1. Analyze your needs

Having a lot of coverage is sure a great way to secure your house properly but it always comes with a hefty price tag. The more coverage your policy caries the higher will be your rates, so a logic measure would be cutting down your coverage amount. 

Keep in mind that your coverage should be able to pay for rebuilding your house from scratch were it destroyed completely. If your current coverage amount is well beyond the cast of complete rebuild then adjust it accordingly to get lower premiums.

2. Improve the safety of your house

Insurance is directly related to safety and security and if you can improve these two factors within your house expect the premiums to drop considerably. The most popular and effective options are installing security and video systems, fire alarms, improved locks and solid doors. 

Ask your insurance agent about the measures you can take for making your house peril-proof and getting home insurance discounts for that.

3. Get discounts

Just like with any type of insurance, home insurance can get cheaper if you comply with any discounts. Besides the one mentioned above, you can also get a good discount if you buy home insurance from the same provider that offers you other insurance products like auto or health insurance. Most providers have substantial discounts for multiple policy owners so see if you can opt for that.

4. Shop around

That's probably the best and most efficient way to get affordable home insurance. Instead of trying to cut your rates after buying a policy it's better to purchase a policy with affordable rates in the first place. And it's rather simple to do really. 

All you need is to compare insurance quotes from different companies in your area and choose a policy that has the most benefits for the smallest price. You can be surprised how the rates may differ from company to company.