Before You Buy Home Insurance, Get Estimates.

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Thursday, August 27th, 2009 Subscribe To Our Feed

If you want to find the cheapest home insurance, you’ll need to spend a small amount of time getting estimates. These days, this process is pretty straightforward and easy thanks to the Internet. Consider the following.

Maybe you’re looking for the type of home insurance coverage that won’t break your budget, but you’re not sure if that exists. Well, one thing many consumers don’t realize is that homeowner insurance rates can vary considerably from one company to the next in the same region.

Thus, you need to look at a few different companies to find the most competitive rate for your situation. It pays to shop around because of the potential to lower your premium by hundreds annually. You probably should get three or more quotes from different insurers. There are some things you can do to make this easy.

First, shop for home insurance at an insurance comparison Web site. Comparison sites usually do not represent one company. Rather, you simply fill out a single form online and then get several different quotes back from competing companies and agencies.

You may enjoy the added convenience of a site like this because you only have one form to complete. And that’s important because you want to give each company the same information about the amount of coverage you need and deductible in order to get an apples-to-apples comparison.

Now, if you currently have homeowners insurance, just refer to your policy for this information. You can also estimate the coverage amount for your dwelling by multiplying the square footage of your home by the cost-per-square-foot it would take to rebuild your home with similar materials at today’s prices. Check with a local realtor or home builders association for this information. You probably shouldn’t use the cost you paid for the home, as that may include the land value which isn’t part of home insurance.

As far as personal possessions, this is usually calculated as a percentage of the dwelling coverage. If you don’t think this calculation provides enough coverage for your high value possessions, you can always increase the protection through higher limits and special riders.

Finally, when getting a home owner insurance quote, keep in mind that your deductible amount can affect your premium. So if you choose a $1,000 deductible, you’ll see a lower quote than with a $500 one.

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