Walker Jack Consultants

Whether you already have home insurance and just want lower premiums or if you’re looking for a new insurer, there are several ways to find cheaper insurance for your home.  With a little research and preparation, you could find a much lower cost provider or decrease the premiums from your existing provider.

Location

If you haven’t bought a home yet, try to find a home in an ideal area.  Look for an area with low flood and earthquake risks.  Also try to find an area that is close to a fire department.  Buy a home that is in good condition.  All of these factors will help decrease your home insurance premiums.

Secure Your Home

For an existing home, adding security features such as deadbolt locks, security systems and smoke alarms can greatly decrease your current premiums.  This will also help you find lower home insurance quotes if you’re looking for a new provider.

Opt for Higher Excess

The higher excess you choose, the lower your premiums.  You’ll still be covered, but you are required to pay the excess before insurance takes over the cost of repairs or property.  Be sure to choose the right combination of coverage and excess to fit your budget.  If you can’t afford the excess, then higher premiums are best for you.

Discounts and Bonuses

Look for new providers offering new member discounts.  For existing insurers, call your provider about discounts or bonuses.  For providers offering different types of insurance, look into combining policies for a discount.  Some insurers also offer no claims bonuses.  This can be in the form of a yearly refund or discount off your premium.

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Though it happens rarely, sometimes home insurance companies do go out of business.  If you have a policy with such a company, you may be left wondering who will pay your claims and whether you will receive any type of refund.  Rest assured that you are covered if you make a claim and your insurance company is unable to pay for any reason.

Coverage from Another Insurer

In some cases, another home insurance provider will take over the members from the closed provider.  The new provider will honour the member’s current coverage for the remainder of the coverage term.  You then have the option of continuing with the new provider under their own terms or finding a new provider.  The idea is to make certain you have the coverage you originally paid for.

Refunds

If possible, an insurance company will provide you with a refund of the unused portion of your coverage term.  They will pay any claims filed up until the point they announce their closure.  If a company goes bankrupt, a refund is highly unlikely.

FSA

The Financial Services Authority regulates financial services in the UK.  They use funds from the FSCS to provide coverage on claims made when a home insurance provider ceases to exist.  You will still need to find a new insurer, but any outstanding claims will be paid in full.  This provides consumers a fail-safe should their provider close for any reason, especially bankruptcy, when the company cannot afford to pay claims.

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We often associate ageing with creaky joints and failing eyesight and hearing, but your age may just earn you a discount on your home insurance cover.  Some insurance companies now offer discounts for the over-50 crowd, as it’s been proven they are more likely to take care of their homes and work to prevent damage, and therefore claims.  This puts them in a lower risk bracket, and they can be rewarded for that with lower policy premiums. 

Over-50 savings are available on both home insurance and contents cover, and sometimes further savings can be obtained by purchasing both of these policies from the same company.  However, compare home insurance quotes from several companies, because you may find a better deal by splitting that coverage.

Many companies for several reasons see the over-50s group as a better risk.  They may have the assets accumulated at this point in life to cover with cash any smaller losses, and so are less likely to file small claims.  They also are less likely to make up claims or file spurious claims, and in general take better care of their property and possessions.  Over-50s tend to lock doors and windows, install alarm systems, and protect the things they’ve worked a lifetime to achieve.

If you’re nearing the magic age of 50, call your insurer and see if a discount can be obtained once you have your birthday.  If your current insurer doesn’t offer a discount, call around and get some home insurance quotes.  You may be able to give yourself a birthday gift of lower premiums!

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These days, who isn’t looking to save some money on their home insurance?  And there are a few things you can do to make sure you’re getting the very best deal possible.

Shop around, not only with your current insurer, but with others, to find the best deal possible that also provides the cover you want.  Consider combining your building cover with your contents cover.  Will that save money?  How about including your auto insurance, as well?  Many times these “bundled” policies will save you a bundle.  But don’t forget to get quotes for separate policies from other insurers as well.  On rare occasions, separate policies are the way to go.

Ask if purchasing online provides a discount.  While you’ll want to speak to a person in the event of a claim—and you should be able to do so—sometimes purchasing online saves you money because it also saves the insurance company money.  Ask about discounts for automatic bank drafts, for paying your entire policy once a year, or other payment methods.  Some companies offer discounts based on when or how you pay.

Go through your policy or proposed policy with a fine-toothed comb, taking out anything you don’t need.  You’ll often find “extras” bundled with you policy, like roadside assistance on your building cover or “free” legal advice—for which there’s always a charge.  Some items on contents cover might be covered by the credit card you use to purchase the item, in which case you’re paying double for the same thing.  Purchase just what you need and save yourself money.

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Many people own homes and various other types of property that are not insured.  In fact, approximately 25% of all homeowners in the UK do not have insurance cover on their homes.  This leaves them vulnerable to huge potential losses if anything occurs to cause damage or injury on their properties.

Home insurance helps to protect your equity and your investment.  Did you know that if you are still making monthly mortgage repayments on your home and it burns down you would still be expected to continue paying for it?  You may not to think of life in such negative terms, but the reality is that something, anything, can happen to your home at any time.  If you have no insurance you are really taking your chances with what is probably the biggest investment you will ever make in your lifetime.

Buying home insurance is quite straightforward when you search for companies that offer the kind of cover that you need.  Compare several providers and the types of policies they offer for the money you can afford.  If you are a tenant, you can purchase insurance for contents only.  If anything happens to the building your personal possessions will then be covered.

If you have any doubts about the value of home insurance, watch the news on any given day and you will see lots of examples of why you should purchase at least a basic level of cover.  It will help you get back on your feet in the case of a disaster, either natural or man-made, befalling your property.  Worried about the impending winter storms?  Let them come, if your house floods and you have the appropriate insurance, help is only phone call away.

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Comparing the various options open to you when you purchase house insurance is the only way to make sure you are getting the best deal for your money.  When you see exactly what each company has to offer, you will be able to make an informed decision on which one to purchase.

You should purchase an insurance policy that includes only what you want it to cover.  If your peace of mind includes knowing that your home will be rebuilt if it suffers a fire that burns it to the ground, buy enough insurance to allow for that eventuality.

The policy only needs to cover rebuilding costs, at today’s rates.  You do not have to insure the land, necessarily, as it will still be there through fire, flood, earthquake or other disasters.  Only the house itself will need replacing.  Most insurance companies will insure your property for its full replacement cost.

When comparing home insurance, check carefully that what you receive quotes for is what you actually need.  Living in a flood plain will require that you have flood insurance, so check that it is included.  Read the policy you are offered and be sure to make it clear that you want flood insurance when you ask for quotes.

Compare home insurance quotes you receive, being especially careful when dealing with exclusions.  Many providers have upper limits to what they will insure and might require separate cover for particularly valuable items, for example.

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Lowering your home insurance premiums or your home contents insurance is easy to do with a few tips.  Take into consideration the level of coverage you should have.  Insuring items for more than they’re worth will not get you additional cash in the event you make a claim.  Claims are settled by current market replacement value, not what you think it’s worth.

The same goes for your home.  One common mistake many people make is insuring their home for current market value.  Instead, you need to insure your home for its rebuild value in the event is gets wiped out due to fire or some other unforeseen reason.  Insuring your home for current market value means you will be including the cost of the land.  If you were to rebuild your home, the land would already be there, so in essence, you’re over insured and paying unnecessarily high premiums.

Instead, think of rebuilding cost as well as replacement cost for the items inside.  Don’t forget items such as bathroom and kitchen fixtures, light fixtures and any sheds or storage units you may have on your property.

Also take into consideration other potential costs such as architect’s fees or relocating fees.  If your land gets damaged from a landslide, you will not be able to rebuild in that neighbourhood either way, so considering these often forgot about factors will help provide a more true coverage for your building insurance and content insurance needs.

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Starting a long course of study brings plenty of financial stress and it is entirely reasonable that students feel they need to cut costs wherever they can.  However, saving a couple of pounds on home contents insurance might end up costing a student dearly.

On average a shared house for students contains almost £4,000 of goods, such as electronics, clothes and so on, which makes it a great target for thieves.  Should these items be stolen, the owner might find it very hard to shell out thousands of pounds to replace their personal items.  Cheap home insurance is now so easy to find that there really is no excuse for not pitching in and contributing to an annual contents insurance policy that will cover these items against theft and in addition, fire, flood and other disasters.

House insurance quotes can be gathered through online research and students might be surprised to find how cheap home insurance really can be.  If money is really tight students can save by increasing the excess payment, which will still leave them protected against losses of thousands of pounds, even though smaller losses will not be covered.

As an added bonus, many contents insurance policies cover items taken outside the house, such as laptop computers, which may be used for note taking in classes.  If the laptop is stolen when away from home the policy will provide sufficient cover to enable the insured to purchase a new or similar device.

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There are two types of house insurance on the market, buildings insurance and contents insurance.  Buildings insurance and contents insurance can be purchased either together or separately.  If you are a homeowner you might find that taking out a combined building and contents insurance policy is cheaper.  However, if you live in rented accommodation, contents insurance is all you will require.

Buildings insurance provides cover for your home and any fixed items, such as fitted cabinets.  The level of insurance required can either be calculated based on the number of bedrooms in your property or by the cost of having it completely rebuilt.  If you own more than one property you will need to find a policy that will provide cover for each of them, including ones that are likely to be unoccupied for long periods of time, such as holiday homes.

Contents insurance covers all the items that can be moved, such as TVs, DVD players, computers and furniture.  Some companies offer buildings and contents insurance combined as a much cheaper deal, which is ideal for homeowners.  Contents insurance provides cover for theft or damage of your personal possessions.

Some building and contents insurance may not provide cover for people living in areas where the level of crime is high.  In such cases you may require specialist insurance, which is ideal for students living in rented accommodation and for anyone living in areas that are susceptible to flooding.

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It is vital that you find a contents insurance policy that matches your personal requirements.  Contents insurance will ensure that all your personal belongings are covered in case of theft or damage caused by fire, floods or other severe weather conditions.  Comparing contents insurance policies will enable you to find a deal that is just right for you.

If you are a tenant, then contents insurance is essential.  As a tenant, you are responsible for any personal items that you move into your rented accommodation.  Therefore, it is vital that you ensure that they are protected.  Items such as TVs, DVD players, computers and furniture are all covered by contents insurance.

If you are a student, then there are special insurance policies available that will help to keep your items protected.  Specialist content insurance is available for students living in shared rented accommodation or halls of residence.

Comparing contents insurance policies will enable you to see what you will and will not be covered for.  There may be restrictions in some contents insurance policies, so be sure to look around in order to find one that matches your requirements.

Contents insurance will only cover theft or accidental damage to your personal items.  Comparing the policies offered by a selection of providers will help you to get an idea of the circumstances under which you can make a claim on contents insurance.  You should also compare quotes in order to find the best deal that provides you with everything you need to protect your personal items.

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