Trends of The Day

It would be easy to tell you to just jump online, find one of the many sites that allow you to make comparisons of the prices of homeowner’s insurance policies from a variety of different insurance companies and be done with it.

Unfortunately doing that will not necessarily get you the cheapest homeowner’s insurance that you can find online in Iowa.

The good news is, the steps you need to take before getting online to look for your cheap homeowner’s policy are all relatively easy to take.

Let’s start with smoking. If you smoke you are going to pay more for your homeowner’s insurance. It’s that simple. You need to stop smoking if you want to get the best possible rates. If you already have a homeowner’s insurance policy and you were a smoker at the time you took out the policy but you have since quit, you need to let your agent know as you will be in line for a rather nice reduction in your monthly premiums.

Do you have other insurance policies - auto insurance or health insurance for instance - with the same insurance company? If so you should be getting a multi-policy discount.

Similarly, if you have had your policy with the same company for 5 or 6 years you need to ask your agent if you qualify for a Long-Term Discount.

Keep your credit rating good. Many people are not aware that the monthly premium you pay for your homeowner’s insurance is based, in part, on your credit score. The better your credit score the less you will pay each month for your homeowner’s insurance.

If your home is more than 10 years old talk to your agent about the savings you could receive if you were to up-grade the plumbing or the electrical system.

Fire danger is a big part of the monthly premium you pay for your policy, so clearing all brush and weeds ten feet away from all structures on your property can often lower your premium.

If you can afford to install a sprinkler system or a monitored home protection system that reports fire and burglaries to the authorities 24/7 you could be entitled to as much as a 30% reduction in your monthly homeowner’s premium, but talk to your agent before installing such a system as not all systems receive the same discount.

Install motion-sensitive outdoor floodlights to discourage burglars, and trim bushes away from all windows to further discourage home break-ins.

Install deadbolt locks on all exterior doors and make certain that all windows, even those on upper stories, have a working lock.

Install the proper number of fire and smoke detectors for the size and layout of your home and make certain that all of them are in working order. Change batteries twice yearly at the same time that clocks are set forward or backward an hour.

Buy a fire extinguisher that is specially designed for kitchen fires and keep it handy in your kitchen.

When setting the value of your policy make certain that it is enough to rebuild your home from the foundation up and that it is sufficient to replace all of your belongings - but don’t make the mistake of insuring the land under your home.

Can you afford a bigger deductible on your policy? Consider this question carefully as you will be asked to come up with the cash to cover your deductible if you ever have a claim. Doubling your deductible from $500 to $1,000 can greatly reduce your monthly premium payment.

O.K., now that you know what you are looking for in a policy - how you can structure a policy to save you the most money each month - it’s time for you to get online and start making comparisons on at least 3 of the websites that allow you to compare homeowner’s insurance policies and prices here in Iowa.

Be sure to take the extra time to make your comparisons on multiple sites (at least 3 different websites) if you really and truly want to get cheap homeowner’s insurance online here in Iowa, since no one website compares all of the different insurance companies operating in the state.

***************************************************************************************