Homeowners Insurance: Tips for Reducing Your Premium

With prices for just about everything fluctuating (mostly in the upward direction) lately, people everywhere are looking to save money where ever they can. A good place to start is with your homeowner's insurance policy.

In spite of our economy, home values have increased over the past 5-15 years. Many people have failed to determine if their current insurance coverage would be adequate to replace their homes. Your policy should allow you to completely rebuild your home should a disaster occur. If not, get your policy updated to match your current property values.

To save money on your homeowner's insurance policy, follow these tips:

• Determine the limits you want on your homeowners insurance, what value you need to insure, get multiple quotes.
• Consider purchasing your homeowner, auto and umbrella insurance with the same company so a multi-coverage discount will apply.
• Having smoke, burglar alarms and a sprinkler system could mean bigger discounts.
• Get a quote for insurance that would pay to replace your belongings, rather than pay you based on their depreciated value.
• Ask your agent what documentation you need to substantiate a claim, in case of theft or fire. Make sure you videotape all of you personal properties including what is in the drawers and cabinets and send the tape to someone you trust for safekeeping.
• Make sure you carry enough liability coverage to protect you against a lawsuit if someone gets slips, trips or gets hurt on your property.

If you haven't reviewed your homeowner's insurance policy lately, now might be a wise time to do that, especially to make sure you are adequately covered in case of an unexpected disaster, like fire, tornado's, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.